《The princess is a secret assassin!》


 Prolouge

    Lei Lou walked through the dim feylight torches of the servants corridors, a bundle of towels in her arms and head bowed. No one paid attention to her eyes dancing feverishly around or how her right hand appeared to be holding something under the towels rather than the towels themselves. No one ever paid attention to the hired help.


    She had snuck into Tianshao castle days earlier during a diplomatic visit from the Yakushiri kingdom to the east entering whilst the normally peaceful castle was thrown into the controlled chaos that the foreign diplomats provoked. Over the next several days she had posed as a maid doing as large a variety of tasks as possible as she mapped out the interior of the castle for her bosses as she tried to locate her target. For obvious reasons the Tianshao Dynasty took great pains to make sure that only the most trusted of servants were allowed to enter the personal rooms of the royals. This should have made locating her target fairly easy however princess Dianne the fourth in line was quite disliked and therefore shunned by the emperor for reasons only he knew. However rumors ran through the servants quarters with the most common being that she was blessed enough to be provided with a class (As expected of a royal)  but did not know how to unlock it. Her coming out ball in two weeks would prove that one way or another, with the common identification abilities not working on those under 18. Or it would however if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that Lei was planning on slitting her throat tonight where she stood.


    After two days of subtle interrogation of the servants Lei finally managed to locate the singular servant that served Dianne, a thin middle aged woman only known as lady Xing, and after following her carrying dinner she finally managed to locate the princesses bedroom. Surprisingly it was located on the opposite side of the castle to where the other royalty lived, up the old western tower the section of the castle that was the oldest and was in serious need of modernisation, an area clearly designed purely for defence with thick granite walls and minimal decoration. In contrast the much more modern eastern wing was made with comfort and the aim to impress much more in mind complete with all modern touches.


    Exiting the servants corridor Lei strode confidently down the last few meters to a thick but otherwise plain wooden door standing alone on the eighth floor where a single guard stood leaning lazily on his spear, with his leather chestplate fastened poorly over what was clearly a bulging stomach. He was clearly paying significantly more attention to the storm raging outside rather than down the corridor as he should. But really few would blame him with it being an easy job, standing in a corridor only letting through the princesses servants, her few friends and other royalty. However no one else was allowed in this section of the castle and none would bother. It wasn¡¯t as if this princess had any significant political sway, nor was she often seen or even engaged with. Someone would have better luck with any of her other siblings who were much more popular, powerful and politically active.


    ¡°Oh I didn¡¯t see you there¡± the guard said startlingly as Lei cleared her throat as she walked up to the door, the [silent footsteps] Skill making her nearly unnoticeable until she made herself known. ¡°Who are you?¡± He asked, looking at her up and down, leering down at her, the maid uniform she wore barely concealing even her minimal assets. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you here before.¡±


    Barely concealing her shudder and debating the merits of killing him said quietly ¡°I¡¯m providing towels for her majesty¡± as she dipped into a curtsy.


    The guard, his eyes firmly fixed on her chest idly queried her ¡°oh and what happened to the princesses lady in waiting? I saw her this morning but she hasn¡¯t returned since.¡±


    ¡°She has fallen unwell sir¡± Lin said looking straight ahead to not give away any details in her expression. This was the truth however what she neglected to mention was that she was the cause of that, having slipped a mild poison into the servant¡¯s meals to make Lady Xing and several other servants feel violently ill earlier that day. The cooks were rightfully terrified hoping that none of this contaminated food had found its way to more important lips. ¡°I have heard that there seems to have been some severe food poisoning and several maids have needed to be reassigned¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± The guard said his eyebrows raising ¡°well if that¡¯s the case¡± his lips twisting into a cruel smile as he walked towards her, leaving his spear leaning against the wall ¡°I have no choice but to pat you down, security concerns and all¡± roughly with no attempts to actually check Lei for anything concerning he pawed at her, his hands lingering particularly around her chest and waist. Conveniently the man didn¡¯t bother searching through the towels. Well conveniently for him Lei thought, it might make her life slightly more inconvenient depending on whether anyone walked up the stairs later that night, but she was perfectly prepared to stab him through the eye if he risked her mission. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    At this point I might even appreciate him discovering the knife but his death will likely be significantly more painful when it¡¯s discovered a princess, even a useless one like this was killed on his watch, Lei thought to himself still feeling repulsed at his ¡®examination¡¯. ¡°Am I allowed to go in now?¡± she said softly, her tone barely hiding her simmering rage.


    ¡°Of course¡± he said, nodding towards the door and smirking at her. ¡°Be my guest and feel free to come back later¡±


    Ignoring him as best she could she opened her door and quietly walked inside, her eyes quickly searching the room, examining the massive four poster bed, the scarred wooden desk covered in writing implements and a wilted set of flowers in a large glass vase. Seated in a plush chair at the desk was A young woman with short black hair, and a highly expressive face, thick black eyebrows pulling up and lips pursing in puzzlement as she turned at the creaking sound of her door opening unexpectedly. ¡°Who are you¡±, princess Dianne asked, stumbling out of her chair and managing to bump the vase of flowers from the desk in her rush. The sound of glass water and wilted lilies spilling all over the ground sounded like thunder in Lei¡¯s ears. ¡°Why are you here? I didn¡¯t ask for towels.¡±


    Lei winced at the sound of shattering glass and quickly walked to the bed. gently she  placed the towels down making sure to remove her dagger and slip place it behind her into her belt. Glancing quickly to make sure the guard didn¡¯t enter at the unexpected noise she quickly replied ¡°I appologise your highness.¡± she said as she cast a silencing array around the room with her hands behind her back to hide the movements.


    As her ears popped Diannes eyes widened in shock, ¡°what was that magic? Who are you? Maids don¡¯t have magic like that.¡± Smiling viciously as she drew her dagger Lei started to pace towards the princess, the blade seemingly absorbing the feylight light around it.


    ¡°Unfortunately princess your time is up¡± Lei said as she quickly crossed the room as the princess backed into her chair. Lei lunged the dagger outstretched, aiming to place the dagger in Dianne¡¯s throat. Dianne managed to lean backwards over her desk and out of the way escaping with a small cut on her neck. Rolling to the side she picked up her chair and swung it at Lin¡¯s legs.


    The slippery ground betrayed Lin as her momentum carried through her swing and she struggled to maintain her footing on the slick ground, and she was unable to manger out of the way as the chair took her legs out from under her, the dagger skidding out of her grip.


    Dianne brought the chair down on her again however Lin wasn¡¯t an assassin for nothing, managing to get her hand around Dianne¡¯s ankle as she swung, pulling her to the ground and quickly rolling on top of her Lin wrapped her hands around Dianne¡¯s neck and squeezed.


    ***


    As I struggled on the ground beneath the implacable gaze of the woman atop of me trying desperately to suck it another breath I saw my pathetic life flickering in front of me, I saw my awakening day at 12, the horror of a never before seen class. The last five years of struggle to try to awaken it trying to absorb different elements, eating different food, trying techniques from every other known class. Watching others clearly awaken their class in front of me and the envy and dread I saw as it happened. The sneers from the rest of my family as they watched and saw no evidence of improvement, and with no attempts to help her. My self imposed isolation as I looked for any possible solution.


    I¡¯m dying, I realised as I tried to push the assassin off me with one hand as my other groped the ground, trying to grab something, anything to possibly get her off. Her hands were like iron around my neck cutting off air and no matter how hard I bucked I was unable to throw her off. My right hand brushed against something sharp. Desperately I grabbed it and swung, managing to cut the woman just above her eye, the improvised weapon in my hand caused her to jerk back and I managed to suck in a desperate breath and jerked back before she knocked away the shard of pottery and resumed the slow suffocation.


    Desperately I scanned the room with my eyes as I looked around for anything to escape this increasingly desperate situation, and there I saw it, the knife that had somehow ended up under my desk. However I was clearly out of reach. In a panic I bucked and twisted and drove my body backwards as it screamed out for air, the assassin''s dark eyes implacable and her grip unfaltering as she slowly asphyxiated me.


    With one last monumental heave on the still slick ground I shoved myself far enough backwards. With my last remaining breath I grabbed the knife, flipped it up and firmly drove it into her left eye. She gasped her hands loosening around my throat and I watched as the light left her remaining eye.


    I attempted to scream as I sucked in wheezing breaths, the assassin¡¯s body collapsing upon me as a burning pain surrounded my throat. However the pain and fear turned to shock as words I never expected to see flashed across my vision.


    System initiated, Class ¡°Absorber¡± has awoken.


    Preparing¡­

 Chapter 1 - Initiation

    I stared at the words hovering over my screen stunned into silence by the overwhelming situation. Ever since the system lock expired for me when I was twelve and I had seen my initial class I had struggled for years trying anything and everything I could think of to properly unlock the system. In almost a daze I shoved the body off me barely noticing my hands shaking as I did so. Slowly I walked to my bed barely daring to even blink, terrified that the words would vanish if I even closed my eyes. As I sat down the words in front of me changed.


    Preparations complete, please ready yourself for temporary extraction.


    Temporary extraction, I whispered to myself, extraction to where?


    I felt a sharp stabbing pain in my head and I began to collapse backwards with pain. As I fell back however I felt as though my sprit was condensing inside my head, and as the feeling in my mind kept growing I closed my eyes and was whisked away to another place.


    ¡°Damn it to the lower planes that hurt¡± I muttered as I opened my eyes, finding myself in my room? But no it wasn¡¯t actually my room instead of the one door to leave there was two and most notably there was not a broken vase or dead maid on the ground


    ¡°No you¡¯re not dead¡± came a voice from directly behind me causing me to jump and turn around. I looked to see a woman standing behind me. Hands on her hips she continued ¡°that¡¯s normally what people ask when they first come here.¡±


    Looking at this woman she had long black hair, a small nose and thick lips. Piercing Brown eyes looked at me through knitted brows. Her arms were crossed over a luxurious set of leather armour with two daggers belted at her waist.


    I wasn¡¯t aware I had a twin I said looking at her darkly, as she examined me in turn and I certainly didn¡¯t recall being the uglier one.


    My clone smirked at that. ¡°It¡¯s funny watching you pouting at a reflection of yourself.¡± She said as she started walking toward the door ¡°or at least who you could be, I¡¯m your soul, the manager of your class and skills and most importantly your guide.¡±


    ¡°Is that so Soul¡± I said, glaring at her and naming her on the spot ¡° I can guarantee I have never looked like that in my life.¡±


    ¡°I am who you will be once you awake to consciousness, Soul said I am showing you what you could be with your class and skills you take. I demonstrate the basics of your initial abilities and you can come to me with any questions. I also explain to you the basic rules of taking your first step on the eternal path.¡±


    ¡°Are you the reason why I couldn''t get any explanation from anyone on anything related to classes?¡± I asked glaring ¡°Sort of¡± she said shrugging ¡°there are some restrictions on what can be told to potentials and the unawakened. However you were absolutely screwed over significantly more, But worry not for I am here to resolve all of your questions now.¡±


    ¡°Wait hold on one moment¡± I said raising my hand as though to grab Soul but her glare that seemed almost physically cutting made me think twice. ¡°What do mean I have been screwed over? Who has been messing with me and my Class?¡±


    ¡°Well lets look over your initial stats shall we¡± Soul said walking to the wall right next to the door, touching the wall. I watch in shock as the wall seemed to vanish as a display showing my name and some basic details showed up.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Name: Dianne Elizabeth Tianshao


    </td>


    <td>


    Class: Absorber


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Strength


    </td>


    <td>


    6


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Dexterity


    </td>


    <td>


    8


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Vitality


    </td>


    <td>


    8


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Toughness


    </td>


    <td>


    7


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Willpower


    </td>


    <td>


    12


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Intelligence


    </td>


    <td>


    10


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Perception


    </td>


    <td>


    11


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Mana


    </td>


    <td>


    20


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°Well all of your stats are much lower than they should be for basically anyone who has money and wants their children to succeed.¡± Soul said, ¡°On average a noble will start with ten across the board at minimum for all stats but mana, due to eating specific foods to boost the stats of those who can awaken, and around 50 mana. I suspect someone is doing something to hurt your stats because the average for an awakened individual is 10 across the board and 25 with mana¡± and in comparison royalty in this realm have managed to get some stats to 25 and mana to 100 starting off depending on their specialty¡±


    ¡°So someone is hurting me and has put me in a horrible position? How detrimental is this? Can this be fixed?¡± I asked stressed, wracking my brain trying to work out who could have done this. Someone in my family surely. Maybe one of the cooks and some of the staff?


    ¡°Well its obviously not good, and those foods don''t work on you now you''re awake for the most part. so you are going to have to raise it in one of two ways, by exercising or levelling up.¡±


    ¡°And this will offset such a large disadvantage?¡± I said questioning Soul ¡°Everyone else will clearly level up too and most people awaken a lot younger. And exercise can''t do too much surely?¡±


    ¡°Well for anyone but you this would be a near permanent disadvantage¡± Soul admitted, walking to the door ¡°but you will be fine.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean anyone but me?¡± I asked, ¡°What makes me so different?¡±


    Getting to the door and clearly seeing fit to ignore me she dramatically swung open the door and gestured inside, leading the way as I walked in, my curiosity piqued but also ready to demand more answers ¡°Welcome to the Absorber class¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Are you serious?¡± I said, turning around and looking at Soul and pointed at the bland room with nothing but a small wood desk with just three large sheath of papers and blank walls ¡°That''s it?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? This is fantastic! Soul said her eyes shining. The less in the room means the more potential the system thinks the class has! Because the room fills related to your achievements and growth with the class. So a big empty room means the more that can be here, everyone starts with something like this.¡± Dragging me to the desk and shoving me into the seat she grabbed one pile of papers and threw them into my hands. ¡°This is what you have at the moment to fill in your ten classless slots¡±


    ¡°Is ten the standard?¡± I asked, looking over the list of potential skills that took up several pages, absolutely overwhelmed by the amount of choice I had.


    [Running]


    [Walking]


    [Basic combat]


    [Unarmed combat]


    [Ranged combat]


    [Dagger combat]


    [Improvised weapons]


    [Grace]


    [Poise]


    [Manners]


    [Hiding]


    [Meditation]


    [Senses]


    [Eavesdropping]


    ¡°Its normally somewhere between five and ten, so ten is definitely better. Also something to be aware of is that you can take any of these at any point and come back to switch them out however if you change you start the new skill from scratch. Also you cant save your capability in a skill if you want to take it back. You start the skill as if you had never used it before however its normally a bit easier to get it back to the same level the second time.¡±


    ¡°Anything you can tell me about the skills I have?¡± I asked as I threw my feet up on the desk and leant back on the chair to keep reading down the list of skills I had earned


    ¡°Well as is normal, A Lot of your skills have similar properties with each other¡± Soul said pointing at [Grace [Poise and [Manners as well as [Running and [Walking. ¡°Considering its based on your life experience to this point as you age your list will grow dramatically however you for the most part will see them as they come in and are able to change or upgrade your skills as they come in.¡±


    ¡°And crossing over skills probably is not the best¡± I muttered to myself looking at the list. Soul nodded, ¡°unless you are trying to merge skills which is incredibly difficult, I wouldn''t recommend it.¡±


    ¡°Any recommendations?¡± I asked Soul ¡°I''m a bit overwhelmed with choice here and I''m not sure I''m in the safest spot right now.¡±


    ¡°There would certainly be some questions if someone was to walk in to your room right now¡± Soul agreed. ¡°You can come back and adjust if you need to, so for right now I would pick [Meditation] the weapon of your choice [Senses], [Running], [Social graces], [Basic medical knowledge] [Bartering] [Learning] and [Climbing]


    Not bothering to debate myself I quickly chose the suggested list of skills living daggers as my weapon of choice being the one I had the most practice with and was the most appropriate to carry on my person as a royal lady.


    ¡°Once you leave and as you start using these skills you will get more information about them although beginners skills are obviously pretty self explanatory for the most part.¡±


    ¡°Next we look at the most important aspect of this¡± Soul said, grabbing the next sheet of paper and shoving it at me. With shaking hands I grabbed the paper, closing my eyes and exhaling deeply. This was it. My class. After so many years of being considered and called useless by my family and having it discussed behind my back at court and social eventsI finally got to see what my class was.


    Class: Absorber


    Allows the user to absorb a fraction of the class of enemies upon death. Chance of success relates to how much higher level the killed target is. Absorbed class starts at base level however can be upgraded as per the classes requirements. Target must be an awakened individual. Other restrictions apply.


    Awakening requirements: kill an individual with an awakened class


    I yelped and clapped my hands over my mouth in shock. I turned to look at soul and whispered, ¡°is this as powerful as it looks?¡± Soul nodded


    ¡°Never reveal your true abilities to anyone if you can get away with it she said This class is incredibly rare and would be considered an S tier class at minimum and classers will always target the strongest potential classes before they can grow.¡±


    I nodded and then immediately had a thought ¡°Wait did I absorb the class of the person I just killed?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely The person you killed was an incredibly weak rogue class, an absorber is  guaranteed to absorb the first class of the person they kill, it¡¯s not the best class to start with but it¡¯s pretty helpful. But first let¡¯s quickly look over your abilities from your class.¡± Soul said tapping the sheet of paper in my hand for emphasis


    [Absorb]


    Allows you a small chance to absorb the class of a person you kill. This chance increases depending on how much higher level the individual is than your combined class level and will drop depending on if they are lower level.


    The odds of absorbing a class will never rise above 50% and will never be below 0.001%


    [Identify]


    Allows you to see the class and level of other classers and gives you a sense of how dangerous the user is. Can be fooled by abilities that change the displayed information.


    [Disguise class]


    Protects yourself from Identifying abilities by projecting one of your absorbed classes as though it is your main class, also reduces the proposed threat level can be seen through by a stronger ability.


    [Absorbed Growth]


    All absorbed classes level up slightly quicker


    This benefit is presently 0.001%


    [Aura]


    The class''s only combative ability allows you to layer all the absorbed classes energies together and emanate that threat as a physical force.


    ¡°So comparatively to an average newly awakened I¡¯m probably incredibly weak right now correct?¡± I asked Soul who nodded


    ¡°The benefits of this class come from all the potential it provides from killing other classers. Which means that you have to kill other classers to actually grow which is why the class of our recently deceased maid will be very helpful¡±


    ¡°Well I don¡¯t exactly see myself becoming an assassin for hire so I¡¯m not exactly convinced that I will be gaining any classes at any kind of pace¡± I muttered looking over the details of my class with my stomach sinking in horror.


    To properly advance this class I have to be a blatant murderer I thought. I killed in self defence once but I¡¯m a princess! I¡¯m not capable of this!


    ¡°Well¡± Soul said, wincing slightly ¡°Unfortunately I don¡¯t see that being an issue¡± I glanced at her suspiciously. ¡°You see, well, the church considers the class an abomination and there are standing orders to kill on site¡± Soul finished in a rush


    ¡°Fantastic¡± I said rubbing my temples, at this point at the limits of how much shock I could handle. The church was a powerful entity when it came to classers but had minimal power outside of it. Most classers became members and it sometimes acted more as a social hub than a religious institution. Being cut off from it was considered a significant loss to any classer as most system enforced deals and contracts were done through the church.


    ¡°Anyway let¡¯s have a look at your last class that you stole¡± Soul exclaimed clearly attempting to change the subject as she ripped the page out of my hand and placed the last one in there.


    Subclass: Rouge


    A diverse class that focuses on trickery stealth and deception. Allows the user to infiltrate and strike without being seen. Allows the user to branch out into more specific areas such as assassination, thievery, mage and Intelligence specialties


    ¡°One thing to note about is that you start with the skills of the person you have killed and can add any applicable skills you know related to the class which is obviously none in this case¡± Soul informed me as I looked over the limited skills I had available for this class


    [Silent footsteps]


    Your steps make no sound unless you wish them to. Your steps also make no vibration and is not affected by footwear


    [Basic Shadow magic]


    You gain basic manipulation of shadows and related elements. Additional spells can be learned. Current spell list:


    Silence.


    [Fade]


    Upon activation you will naturally fade into the background and it will be harder for you to draw attention. However people will notice you if suspicious or unusual things happen.


    [Pickpocketing]


    You have deft fingers and are able to take things off a person naturally without them noticing.


    [Empty]


    [Empty]


    [Empty]


    [Empty]


    ¡°So clearly this was a brand new classer?¡± I asked ¡°Why would someone so new attack me?¡±


    ¡°Well there is a significant penalty for killing someone below the age of 18 unless they are under 18 themselves.¡± Soul said ¡°you are very lucky that whoever tried to kill you got impatient rather than waiting until you turn 18 and doing it properly, in fact I would look out¡­¡±


    Soul trailed off her attention clearly elsewhere.


    ¡°What is it¡± I asked watching Soul look at seemingly a blank wall with an incredible intensity¡±


    ¡°Damn it to a lower plane¡± Soul swore, looking around ¡°unfortunately you have run out of time, someone else is coming up and you have very little time to spare before they see you and that will raise questions you don¡¯t want to answer¡±


    Scrambling up I looked around and rushed towards the door, following Soul as she shouted last minute instructions. ¡°You can youse the meditation skill to help you get back here as you need, take your time to find out what your abilities do alone and do whatever you can to avoid drawing attention!¡±


    ¡°Thank you¡± I shouted, opening the door that would normally be the exit to my bedroom to see an opening to what appeared to be a starry night sky. I looked in awe, hesitating only a moment before stepping through back to my new life as a newly awakened classer.

 Chapter 2 - to hide a body

    I came back to consciousness with a bunch of notifications, a throbbing headache and a knock at my door. ¡°May I come in¡± a voice I had never heard asked. ¡°I have brought dinner as Lady Xing is presently unwell.¡±


    ¡°Please leave it outside¡± I asked in a rush jumping off the bed and rushing to the door grabbing the chair that had been left lying on its side after my futile attempt to defend myself with it. Jamming it under the handle just in case the maid attempted to open it without my permission.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± the voice asked hesitantly. ¡°I was specifically instructed¡­¡±


    ¡°And am I not a princess¡± I demanded shrilly the stress of being caught with the body of a maid coming through my voice. ¡°I will come and grab it when I¡¯m good and ready at this moment I do not wish to be disturbed¡±


    ¡°Of course your highness, I will leave it here now¡± the voice said and I listened at the door to the sound of her footsteps fading away into the distance.


    Well that¡¯s one issue solved I thought as I turned around looking at the mess that was my floor and the body now lying on it. Only many more to go.


    A ping in the back of my mind reminded me of the bunch of notifications that I had received after waking up and I rushed to check them.


    *Congratulations Absorber class has reached level 1


    *Congratulations Rouge class has reached level 1


    *You have 10 free stat points to distribute, do you wish to do so now?


    Do you wish to add the skill [Stealth] to the rogue class?


    Immediately I added the skill reading the added description.


    [Stealth] Common


    Remain out of sight and out of mind. Helps the user to keep out of sight, move silently and not be spotted. This effect is non magical and only provides basic information at the common level.


    What is this? I wondered, why does the skill have a grade? Immediately I went and checked and yes all my skills were now marked at common level. Damn I muttered my stomach sinking, another advantage my siblings have that I will need to beat. The eldest twins had been competing with their classes for years, not revealing anything to me but surely at this stage they had several skills ranked well above mine! I didn¡¯t even know what the rankings above common even were!


    ¡°Wait¡± I muttered to myself ¡°how is it that I have been surrounded by people who have had classes and skills for years and yet I know nothing!¡±


    Something very wrong is going on I decided as I thought deeply about the situation, knowing so little about something so important cannot be an accident.


    I dismissed the other notifications, deciding to only distribute the stats as needed. Next I stopped and stood in the middle of the room. Breathing in deeply I concentrated and focused on the new skills I had. Specifically on my Rouge class and the silence spell. Almost on autopilot as if my hands were moving outside of my conscious control they started dancing and following through several complex symbols almost too fast to follow. A force I had never felt before flowed out of me and I felt a sensation drain out of me and instinctively I knew my mana had dropped.


    Checking I quickly confirmed my suspicionsu and as I suspected my mana was down one point. Sighing in relief I immediately clapped my hands over my mouth as I heard my voice.


    Wait it didn¡¯t work? I wondered, but no mana was definitely still connected to something. I concluded that surprisingly having a bunch of awesome new skills did not mean I had any idea how to use them and how they worked. I decided to proceed as though it had completely failed but leave it up just in case.


    With great trepidation I walked slowly over to the woman I killed, still lying with her one remaining eye gazing towards the sky and the dagger planted firmly in her other eye.


    Out of a morbid curiosity I attempted to identify the attacker. No result. I then went and withdrew the knife from her eye and examined it. The curved jagged black blade appeared even more menacing up close. As I held it I felt something odd. As if it was trying to connect to my mana. Curious I identified it and almost dropped it in my shock as the description appeared in front of my eyes.


    Bloodletting dagger (Uncommon)


    Wounds made by this weapon take 25% more mana to heal and the area around the blood around the wound will refuse to clot.


    Well that seems damn useful I thought to myself as I tucked it away. My first enchanted item! And straight to something that''s uncommon. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Looking back down at the body and the spreading puddle of blood I dragged the body over to the window, suddenly incredibly grateful for the storm raging outside. Putting her as out of sight as I could behind the desk I looked down at the woman I killed, who looked so diminished now in death, a crumpled doll with her strings cut, never to be animated again.


    ¡°In hindsight I have to thank you¡± I said to the corpse ¡°You rescued me from insignificance, and have opened up a new path, I may have been a princess but now I can become something more. And if it wasn''t for you I would spend quite possibly the rest of my life insignificant never knowing this potential just out of reach.¡±


    ¡°Also¡± I said looking behind me at my bed ¡°thanks for the towels.¡±


    ******


    ¡°Manual labour¡± I muttered to myself as I grabbed yet another towel attempting to get the rest of the blood still staining the tiles, ¡°is incredibly difficult, I really should give the maids more credit, also,¡± I said as I tried to mop up the last of the blood and surveyed the room looking for any obvious patches that I missed ¡°why does this stuff seem to just get absolutely everywhere?¡±


    Looking around at last I decided that that was enough blood for one day. I placed the towels away and under the bed, deciding to get my own maids outfit at some time in the future.¡±If only to get rid of those towels.¡± I thought to myself.


    Now came decision time, Looking at the body I now had to decide the next step, I had the vague outlines of a plan however it was incredibly risky. But Ihad no choice unless I wanted to reveal that someone had tried to kill me. And that left the risk of people wondering how I had survived and higher levels of scrutiny, and scrutiny left a higher risk of someone noticing I had awakened. Any type of plausible deniability would be better than nothing.


    So that left what the best way forward would be. Looking out the window at the storm that was continuing to rage I swung open the window, grateful the wind was only blowing a little water onto the floor. Looking outside I confirmed that no one was outside in the courtyard and the only visible guards were huddled into their. Also thor job was to protect the castle from outside threats not examine what was happening inside the castle proper. With one last look I attempted to pick up the body and push it out the window. It turns out however that a relatively small window just at eye height and a body is not the easiest task as dead bodies are not overly maneuverable.


    ¡°Get out¡± I grunted as I attempted for the third time to correctly position the body, leveraging it over the windowsill. Sighing as yet again the body did not magically put itself where I wanted it to go I. placed the body back down and kicked it in annoyance. ¡° Damn you¡± I sighed again. Looking out I confirmed no one had noticed my failed attempts at defenestration, I sat and sighed. ¡°What to do¡± I muttered to myself looking at the body. ¡°You got any thoughts?¡± I asked morbidly. Shockingly the body did not respond. ¡°Didn''t think so¡± I said standing back up looking at the window and around my room  hoping that something would happen to fix my problem.


    And then a lightning bolt struck me, I have stats now! Quickly I went and added two points to strength, bumping it up to 8 form its measly 6 effectively adding a quarter to my strength pool. Picking up the body to try again I immediately noticed the difference and found it significantly easier to pick up and maneuver the body. Grabbing it again and confirming no changes happened outside I shoved the body out the window, immediately slamming the window shut as I watch the body tumble down. Carefully as it hits the ground in a macabre and unnatural position I carefully confirm that there is no alarm, no shouting and no changes with the raging wind and thunder covering the sound of the fall.


    Sighing in relief when I don¡¯t immediately get found out, I rushed to the door as I check to confirm yet again that I have no major bloodstains on me. However looking back down I noticed that there were now blood covering the ground in front of the window where the body was lying previously.


    Damn it.


    ****


    After fixing that issue and ruining a few more towels, I activated my new stealth skill easing myself towards the door rolling my footsteps heel to toe as suddenly felt so natural as I used my skill. As I did so I decided to end my silence magic ability to give myself some more practice.


    Slowly I eased the door open lifting the door up off the hinges to keep it from squeaking as I slipped out, smiling to myself as I watched my clueless and frankly most irritating and least favourite knight that helped guard my room. He was way too touchy with me for my liking and I avoided interacting with him as much as possible. At least I thought if something goes wrong with my plan I can try and blame him.


    Slamming the door behind me I make Sir James  jump in his fright. ¡°Take me to my ¡­ immediately¡± I demand not taking a second to respond as I walk ahead making him rush to catch up.


    ¡°Of course your highness¡± he says, struggling to straighten his breastplate and panting slightly as he rushes ahead to guide me along.


    As we head down a flight I find the equivalent window to the one I opened one level down and take a look outside trying not remain as subtle as possible, opening the window as far as it would go.


    ¡°Why have you opened that?¡± The knight asked as he looked waiting for me at the top of the next flight down.


    ¡°I just was having a look at the storm¡± I responded breathlessly trying to look as ditzy as possible. ¡°It¡¯s the biggest one we have had in some time¡±


    ¡°You should have seen the wailing storm of fifteen years ago¡± Sir John said as he walked back up and out over me as I held my breath and desperately tried to shield as much of the ground beneath me as possible. ¡°We suspect a weather classer was involved but we never found anything. The wailing of mourners continued for weeks afterward.¡± He continued his expression dimming as he looked outside, speaking and looking out but with his mind clearly far away. ¡°Anyway come along now¡± he said almost dragging me down the hall.


    Sighing in relief I followed him watching and leaving the heavy window waving slightly in the torrential gale. I had my alibi, Sir John could not confirm that the maid had left, there was an open window and a body. It would take a brave person now to accuse me of anything. And with muddied suspicion almost no one would even consider that I had anything to do with it. Much less has awakened because of it.


    Rouge class has now upgraded to level two, another two points have been assigned.


    I smiled as I walked, clearly I had a long way to go and a lot to learn about being a rouge and an absorber, and a lot of preparation to overcome the disadvantages I had already received. But for the first time in a long time things were finally looking up!

 Chapter 3 - A family breakfast

    ¡°Apparently a Maid fell out of a window and died last night¡± My father, Emperor Titus III casually mentioned cutting into his steak at breakfast the next morning. The sun blazing down through a strategically located upon his golden hair gave him an otherworldly glow. Known as the emperor of the sun, all anyone ever remarked about him was that he was blonde, the sun followed him and his voice appeared different to everyone. Looking down at my own food and glancing at him out of the corner of my eye I attempted to identify him.


    [Prismatic Mage] Level ????


    Well that explains the sun thing a little bit I thought. Prismatic is light related I¡¯m pretty sure.


    ¡°Anyone important?¡± Cornelius, my closest sibling in age and third in line, asked with little curiosity, pushing up his wire glasses reading a book with one hand as he ate with the other, seemingly asking only because it was expected and not because he actually cared about the response.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think it¡¯s any of ours¡± Rowland the heir said casually brushing his golden hair behind him and picking at his food with a disgusted look on his face.


    ¡°It¡¯s probably Dianna¡¯s fault¡± Nico, his younger twin added, smirking at me as he kicked his shoes up on the table and leant back hands behind his head, managing to balance perfectly in his chair. ¡°Its her fault mother died after all so we all know how good she is at killing¡±


    ¡°Why would you say that?¡± I said, shooting him a glare and gripping my knife tightly in my fist, shooting back despite knowing perfectly well it was my fault. ¡°I have only one dedicated maid of my own and she was unwell yesterday. ¡± ignoring the deep wound mentioning our mother always brought.


    ¡°Be careful little princess¡±, he retorted, chuckling as he looked at my white knuckled grip. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t want to add any more bodies to that death count, any before eighteen is quite the problem, might want to switch back to dollies before you end up in prison¡±


    ¡°Why you bas¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah hem¡± my elder sister Victoria interrupted glaring me down back into my seat as I had started to get up to threaten him further. ¡°You better not have been using the word I thought you were about to use.¡±


    ¡°Yes Mother¡± I muttered just loud enough to be heard as I sat back down in my seat


    ¡°Do not call me that¡± my sister snapped, flushing a deep red and glaring at me as though she wished her eyes could kill. ¡°If the rest of you siblings didn¡¯t act like such children I wouldn¡¯t have to act like your mother¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m older than you¡± both Nico and Rowland said simultaneously


    ¡°Well you don¡¯t act like it do you?¡± Victoria said, looking at the pair crossly as Nico leaned back further in his chair and Rowland as he sat looking at a piece of steak as if it had done him personal harm.


    ¡°That¡¯s the issue¡± My father interrupted. ¡°We can''t identify this maid at this time. It¡¯s quite odd, none of the maids appear to be missing at this time according to the head of households.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully it¡¯s the chef who cooked this steak so poorly.¡± Rowland grumbled, stabbing it with his fork.


    ¡°Onto other matters, Dianne you will organise your own eighteenth birthday celebration coming up.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry could you please say that again¡± I spluttered coughing on the mouthful of food I just cooked.


    ¡°Your not deaf Dianne¡± my father said, his gaze seeming to penetrate into my soul. ¡°Organise it with the Head of the ballroom, you only have three weeks. Also.¡± He said ¡°everyone here is required to attend¡±


    Everyone else immediately protested.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Victoria exclaimed ¡°I have plans already, that¡¯s three days before our classes start back up!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not as if we have any reason to attend¡± Nico shouted, standing up as if by magic ¡°she isn¡¯t even awakened, we have nothing to celebrate here!¡±


    I scowled into my mouthful of food ignoring the continued protests of the rest of my siblings and decided to identify them as they were distracted


    [Prismatic mage] ???


    [Shadow mage] ???


    [Terra mage] ??


    [Magnetic mage] ??


    Why is everyone else a mage except me? I wondered looking at my family in surprise. Thinking about what I knew of their abilities now l I could see their status it became clear that they at least somewhat see how it matched with them personally. Rowland definitely tried to stand out as well as emulating father to an absurd degree. Nico always did the opposite and whilst was very combative with us was able to fade into the background. Victoria always loved her plants and spent a lot of time in her gardens with her friends and Cornelius always loved spending time with the guards and in the armoury. I used to think that it was all to do with fighting but maybe it was all the metal. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Stunned by the revelation I jumped when my father suddenly slammed his hands down on the table. ¡°This is not a discussion¡± he roared at my siblings ¡°you will be there or there will be consequences.¡±


    We all went dead silent. ¡°Good, now that that issue has been resolved.¡± He continued ¡°Dianne I would like to speak with you privately after this is concluded.¡±


    ¡°Yes father¡± I sighed looking back down at my food picking at it disappointedly my stomach sinking as his gaze pierced into me


    ¡°Getting into trouble again sister¡± Cornelius said turning another page, ¡°You owe us by the way for this, I had plans¡±


    ¡°How is this my fault?¡± I demanded ¡° and reading with the guards is not a plan.¡±


    ¡°It is a plan, and it''s a much better plan than attending your party. I would at least be doing something productive then.¡±


    ¡°Your love for me is overwhelming¡± I muttered dryly ¡°I really feel all of this care and respect you have for me¡±


    ¡°Why would any of us care for a useless unawakened brat who provides us no benefit and only problems?¡± Victoria snapped, ¡°your existence only causes our family problems.¡±


    Yeah Nico continued ¡°you being alive even if you awakened tomorrow just invites the outside kingdoms to try and attack as you are proof our line is weakening.¡±


    I looked around to see all of her siblings nodding or glaring at her which for the first time truly conveyed to her that the only value she had to them was her awakening, my father even looked away as she scanned her gaze along them. Even now as I had awakened they wouldn¡¯t see her truly as an equal however. I had awakened too late and had missed out on years of experience that in their eyes could not be quickly overcome. And normally they would be right. Unfortunately for them my power would effectively flip the table if used properly. Because it dawned on me as I sat there that no matter what no one else was able to progress and level for me. My path to power was always going to be one alone.


    ¡°I see,¡± I said softly, glaring back at my family and watching them trying to stare my down, standing up I quickly looked towards my father and executed a perfect curtesy.


    Congratulations The general skill [Social Grace] has leveled up to level 2!


    ¡°Father, I clearly am not wanted here right now. I will wait for you outside.¡± I stammered trying to recover and hide my glee from the notification. My first skill improvement! Stepping back I walked quietly towards the door.


    ¡°Stop,¡± The king said, his voice resonating with power as he stood up glaring at the table ¡°Dianne come back here, Everyone else, leave.¡±


    ¡°But¡± Rowland began


    Titus just glared. And my siblings filed out without a word.


    ¡°Sit¡± my father said, pointing back at my chair as the door closed with an ominous groan behind me.


    With great trepidation I walked back to my chair and sat down. ¡°What did you want to talk about father¡± I asked in the meekest tone I could manage.


    ¡°I know,¡± he said, sitting down and crossing his arms in front of me. His eyes seemed to drill into me as I sat there panicking.


    ¡°Know what¡± I managed to ask, my voice shaking. Internally I started to panic. ¡°Does he know I killed someone? Or does he know about my class.¡± I thought as I grabbed my hands and put them under the table to keep them from shaking.


    ¡°You seemed to have finally awakened¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I said stuttering


    ¡°I felt you use a skill on me, don¡¯t play stupid girl¡± he replied with a glare ¡°so after your birthday we will announce the news to the world and¡­¡±


    ¡°No¡± I yelped in horror without thinking


    The air grew thick with pressure and the air itself seemed to shudder ¡°You dare say no to me¡±


    ¡°I apologise my king I didn''t mean to insult you¡± I quickly said as the pressure continued to mount, a headache beginning to throb in my skull as I spoke. ¡°My class is not one that thrives on being known and I feel like it would be best to remain more in the background at first.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± he said softly, glaring as the pressure spiked.


    Gritting my teeth against the pain I somehow managed to speak ¡°I will go along with your decision if you wish but I prefer to be underestimated and to prove everyone else wrong, classing can only be done solo after all, and I¡¯m confident that when my siblings find out they will get in my way.¡±


    Congratulations new general skill learned [Pain resistance]


    Congratulations Aura has leveled up to level 5!


    The pressure decreased significantly. ¡°You raise some good points¡± my father admitted ¡°but you are aware that this means that your siblings will look down on you at best and seek to eliminate you at worst, I can¡¯t be everywhere and won¡¯t be around forever you know.¡±


    I laughed bitterly ¡°your telling me that they won¡¯t anyway? I am a threat to their lineage as a powerless unawakened but I¡¯m a threat to the throne alive. I can see that you have all your siblings still lying around.¡±


    My father winced at that. ¡°You make me sound like a monster.¡±


    ¡°That is classers, to live we all must become monsters.¡±


    My father sighed and rubbed his eyes. ¡°When I told you that I was not referencing our character.


    ¡°I don''t think that makes it any less true.¡± I replied


    ¡°Anyway, the reason I called you is to let you know that I will be sending you someone to help you with your first bit of leveling and help to give you some advice¡± my father said


    ¡°I thought that we were not allowed to let anyone know about our abilities once we became classers.¡± I enquired suspiciously


    ¡°This person has sworn a class backed oath to not reveal anything they find out.¡± my dad said, waving his hand casually as if trying to wipe away my suspicion. Smirking, he continued, ¡°I think you will like them nonetheless.¡±


    I frowned at him but he neglected to reveal any more.


    ¡°Also the person in question is also going to be who you use to craft your persona for when you go to the academy if you choose to do so which I suspect you will.¡±


    ¡°This is a nightmare,¡± I muttered, ¡°Do I have to go to the same school as all my siblings?¡± I demanded aloud.


    ¡°It¡¯s neutral territory and the best Classer education facility around.¡± My dad said eyebrows raised. ¡°As I said you have to attend for at least one year, also I never said that your siblings have to know, unless you work it out yourself you won¡¯t know some of your own siblings.¡±


    ¡°And if I say no?¡± I asked rebelliously


    ¡°You don¡¯t have that option¡± he said firmly ¡°go and start leveling up and learning to use your skills, you''re already behind so let¡¯s not make it worse.¡±


    ¡°Yes your highness¡± I said sarcastically, bowing as I marched out.


    ¡°Your helper will arrive by the end of the day¡± he called out as I slammed the door behind me.

 Chapter 4 - A familiar assistant

    ¡°Well that whole secrecy thing lasted less than a day, good going Dianne¡± I muttered to myself as I walked angrily back to my room infuriated by my own stupidity and how already being a newly awakened classer had spiraled so dramatically out of control.


    Getting back to my room I decided to go over my status screen and properly start my training


    Name: Dianne Elizabeth Tianshao


    Class: Absorber


    Strength


    8


    Dexterity


    8


    Vitality


    8


    Toughness


    7


    Willpower


    12


    Intelligence


    10


    Perception


    11


    Mana


    20


    Free Points


    9


    General Skills


    [Senses] Common 1


    [Running] Common 1


    [Basic medical knowledge] Common 1


    [Bartering] Common 1


    [Social graces] Common 2


    [Learning] Common 1


    [Climbing] Common 1


    [Meditation] Common 1


    [Dagger Skills] Common 1


    [Empty]


    Seeing that last empty slot I quickly added the new pain tolerance skill I received


    Absorber Class 1


    [Absorb] Common 1


    [Identify] Common 1


    [Disguise class] Common 1


    [Absorbed Growth] Common 1


    [Aura] Common 5


    Rogue Subclass 2


    [Silent footsteps] Common 1


    [Basic Shadow magic] Common 1


    [Fade] Common 1


    [Pickpocketing] Common 1


    [Empty]


    [Empty]


    [Empty]


    [Empty]


    Looking over my capabilities a few things really stood out was that classes really were not created equal. In a vacuum the absorber class actually was very weak and its abilities rely on the ability to steal other classes, whilst in comparison the rouge class which appeared to be much more standard of a class had many more slots. ¡°So I need to learn as much as I can about classes to try and get the best ones of myself which will be hard as no one is particularly open with them.¡± I muttered


    The other important thing I noted is that I had managed significant levelling on my aura skill in comparison to all my other abilities which still were stuck on level one. ¡°Maybe using it subconsciously when getting into the battle of wills with my father?¡± I thought to myself, ¡°Possibly using the skills against someone of significantly higher level?¡±


    ¡°Anyway the goal is to level up as much as possible between now and the party and then again between now and whenever the new semester of the academy starts.¡± Looking there were clearly some ways that I could work out how to level up some of the skills simultaneously.


    But I thought to myself I can''t do it here, Nico is a shadow user and that is almost guaranteed to be better than my shadow manipulation and will be able to discover me if i use it so I wont be able to use that here.


    ¡°So, That means the majority of my training will need to be done in the city¡± I decided, ¡°and I will use the excuse of doing some preparations or getting things for my ball I have to host.¡±


    However I also knew to maximise my time there were obviously some things that needed to be done whilst at the castle. Quickly looking down my list of skills I decided [Meditation] [Running] [Learning] [Senses] [Dagger skills] [Silent movement] and [Fade] were the best options with some I could use constantly. In particular I was curious if meditation was something I could use to entirely replace sleep. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    ¡°Maybe I should try to steal some of those books that were forbidden from those who weren''t classers in the library, now that i can actually access them.¡± I thought.


    Sitting down on the floor I closed my eyes, tried to relax and naturally get myself into the headspace to meditate. Having never actually being taught to meditate and only hearing those vague statement like clear your mind, relax and concentrate on your breathing. Shockingly this didn''t help. The floor was uncomfortable. There was a fly in my room. For some reason I was suddenly very cold.


    ¡°Well you look like a right idiot at the moment don''t you princess,¡± a familiar acerbic voice said completely interrupting any attempt at mediation, admittedly not that I was making much progress.


    ¡°Your a princess Dianne, princesses do not sit on the floor with their eyes closed, contorting their faces into expressions that make them look like they are having bathroom issues.¡± My Head maid, tutor and only real friend Lady Xing stated hands on her hips and a scolding expression on her face.


    ¡°I was not making any faces¡± I quickly exclaimed getting up and trying to avoid her piercing brown eyes and dark hair.


    ¡°If you keep scrunching like that you will get wrinkles,¡± she said completely ignoring my remark. ¡°And it would be such a shame now that you have just awoken the system of ascension, wouldn¡¯t it? Straighten up now would you girl.¡±


    As flustered as I was and nodding emphatically as I tried to regain my thoughts and stance it took me a moment for her words to register. ¡°Wait, what did you just say?¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t aware that you suddenly became deaf as well¡± she remarked ¡°I think you heard me perfectly well.¡±


    ¡°Yes that¡¯s the problem¡± I said my hand fumbling behind me as I tried to grab my knife. ¡°How do you know that, no one is meant to know.¡±


    Lady Xing looked down at me with such disdain one would have thought that I was mud on her boots. ¡°Your knife skills are pathetic, you should not be fumbling around like such a buffoon, any true threat would have killed you many times over before you managed to even draw it out.¡±


    Swallowing nervously I kept one hand on the knife and backed up as I repeated ¡°how do you know that I¡¯m a classer.¡±


    ¡°How do you think you silly girl?¡± She snapped ¡°I suspect you have some kind of identity skill from your father¡¯s words, use it!¡±


    Gaping I rushed to identify her.


    [Night stalker] ???


    Congratulations Identify is now level 2


    ¡°Your my fathers expert?¡± I asked in shock


    ¡°Well don¡¯t look so surprised¡± Lady Xing muttered ¡°your father didn¡¯t just leave the morons at the door to protect you.¡±


    Well a great job you did yesterday I thought to myself.


    Lady Xing winced slightly looking at what was probably a face that could induce a thunderstorm. ¡°I understand that name saying that in light of yesterday is probably not ideal.¡± She admitted.


    Damn it to the lower plains she isn¡¯t meant to know about that either! My father doesn¡¯t even know as far as I¡¯m aware!


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± I said trying to look innocently at her.


    ¡°Goodness your lying is atrocious¡± she muttered under her breath before raising her voice and responding. ¡° I¡¯m not an idiot and in fact I actually know a thing or two about dead bodies. Like the fact a massive neck wound covering her body in blood does not come due to a fall out of a window that is conveniently lined up with the one outside your bedroom.¡±


    I grimaced slightly at that ¡°A fair call, but apparently it should be your job to get rid of them for me is it not?¡± I said raising my eyebrows


    ¡°Get off it, your an ascended classer with a rouge class, if you think that this will be the last body you have to dispose of then you might as well have thrown yourself out the window after your unidentified friend¡± lady Xing said raising an eyebrow. ¡°Got any details you want to share about that?¡±


    ¡°Not particularly¡± I muttered glaring at her mutinously. ¡°How is it that I had no idea about you being a classer? And how am I meant to trust you? You clearly are nothing like my loving head maid that you have acted like for my whole life.¡±


    ¡°You really think you have a choice?¡± She responded with a snort ¡°due to your delayed awakening you have a lot of ground to catch up on before you have a chance of being a viable threat to the throne. And I am bound to keep your secrets.¡±


    ¡°Bound to keep my secrets with whom?¡± I asked crossing my arms and raising my brow. ¡°You telling me that none of my siblings or my dad can¡¯t find anything out about me through you? No other outside parties are also involved in this?¡±


    ¡°Asking some smart questions, at least I taught you something.¡± She replied smiling slightly ¡°your dad is the creator of the contract and also bound into it so he can ask me anything about you and I am required to respond, none of your siblings and no other parties are involved in this. They have their own version of me who teaches them about what they know about the system. How much your brothers and sister knows about the system is up to them.¡±


    Implying that you want me to shut up and just listen I think not. I thought. ¡°Well are you going to start teaching me then?¡± I muttered mutinously deciding then and there to tell her as little as possible about my capabilities.


    ¡°Finally starting to make sense and get down to business, sit down girl this may take a while.¡± Lady Xing said following her own advice grabbing my desk chair as I sat on my bed.


    ¡°So the system, the ascension, the classes of power, the first and most important thing to know and remember is that now your life from now until you die will likely be almost entirely be dictated by those in the system and you will be more and more isolated from those who aren¡¯t. The system is a very jealous master and whilst it can give vast power also can take it away.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean take it away¡± I said in curiosity drawn in despite myself ¡°I have never heard anything like that¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the point girl, think carefully how much do you, a princess with all the access in the world really know about the system?¡± Lady Xing asked eyes drilling into me


    ¡°Umm not a huge amount really, it exists, there are heaps of different classes and that classes level up and those people get stronger?¡± I replied, thinking carefully. It was kind of odd particularly when I had 4 siblings who were classers you think they would have let a bit more slip if even on accident. I didn¡¯t even know anything about skills before I became a classer myself


    ¡°Exactly, and that¡¯s because the system restricts information to just that. Nothing about skills, nothing about class growth, no details on what people can do. It is so all encompassing that it restricts memory of the unawakened, and attempting to bypass it is one of the easiest ways to become a system bounty.¡±


    ¡°A what now?¡± I asked in shock reeling from the knowledge that the system itself was hiding things from me ¡°and what is class growth?¡±


    ¡°A system bounty is when the system itself puts a reward on your head. You normally don¡¯t last long after that. There is additional benefits to the person who kills one and they are targeted maliciously, and every one is kill on sight on this entire plane.¡±


    I opened my mouth to respond but nothing came out.


    ¡°The next most important thing is that you level up skills by being better than what the skill provides. You never try different things with your skills? They aren¡¯t changing. Skills, not levels is the most important part of a class, a class can level up thousands of times and can be killed by someone hundreds of levels below if they can¡¯t use their skills.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense I guess¡± I muttered still feeling overwhelmed by how much I suddenly knew and how much had been hidden away just out of reach.


    ¡°Now you are some kind of stealth dexterity build from what I can tell¡± she said nodding to herself


    ¡°Wait¡± I started


    ¡°Don¡¯t even bother I have been doing this longer than you have been alive, come with me and I¡¯ll show you how to truly be a classer.¡± She said turning on her heel and marching out.

 Chapter 5 - A test run

    ¡°Why are we here?¡± I asked as we walked through one of the many small markets of Pearlrock the capital city nestled just to the south of the main castle that my family resided in. I had dressed to blend in so was wearing clothes no princess would have found themselves wearing a pair of black baggy pants that didn¡¯t fit and a grey shirt ill fitting and worn underneath I wore a pair of fitting leather armour that Lady Xing had managed to find or as I suspected had made for me because I had never seen such a quality set of armour that had fit so perfectly


    ¡°I can tell you have some kind of stealth related class and that means that you have or will be likely to get some kind of thieving skill. So use it.¡± Lady Xing remarked walking straight down the centre of the street forcing the crowd to walk around her with the force of her presence alone.


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± I asked staring at her and dodging around citizens who were much less willing to get out of my way. ¡°That¡¯s the extent of your teaching?¡±


    ¡°Well you won¡¯t know unless you actually do what I ask will you?¡± She responded rather sardonically as she glanced at me with a teasing expression. ¡°You are seemingly of the opinion that you have the power here, I may have been your maid for as long as you have known me but I have lived many other lives prior.¡±


    ¡°Care to elaborate on that?¡± I asked eagerly


    Lady Xing raised an eyebrow ¡°do you plan on doing anything so that you can try to level up?¡±


    ¡°Fine¡± I muttered darkly as I scanned the open air market, watching the blend of all classes and spheres of life blending together in a melting pot of laughter, raised voices, bartering and selling. looking around I tried to identify a reasonable target activating fade as I slipped slowly into the crowd and trying to blend in as much as possible.


    Sliding between people and keeping my steps quiet I used identify across many possible targets, looking for the wealthy but weaker people, those who could afford to loose what was taken but those with the best chance of letting her get away with it.


    However after a ten or so minutes of walking through the crowd I realised that no one really fit the profile I was looking for, the only people who appeared wealthy were classers well in advance of my ability to identify, and I wasn¡¯t going to risk myself targeting them. As I watched a man with [Warrior]?? Above his head grabbed a reaching hand and broke it leaving its owner, a kid dressed in tattered clothes no older than fifteen screaming in pain on the ground in writhing pain. The crowd seemed to take no notice of this and continued walking as if this was an ordinary sight.


    I have never seen anything like that before I thought to myself in shock. Can classers really act like this and it raises absolutely no reaction from the population. As far as I knew crime and homelessness was down! Yet the crowd was treating this like it was any other day.


    Muttering my prayers to the child I continued to look around but no person I thought was targetable who was a person I would willingly target passed by.


    Of course not I realised they are specifically avoiding people like me, if they are extremely or even moderately wealthy they wouldn''t be doing the shopping themselves. It¡¯s not as if a servant is particularly expensive and it¡¯s not as if I have ever gone to a market like this. Abandoning that idea I instead started looking at the stalls themselves as my potential targets. Scanning them very few were classers and not knowing their skills I went out of my way to avoid them.


    Walking up and down lead me to a smaller stall selling small weapons such as daggers and shortswords laid out on a cloth. When I walked up the man was being mobbed by several customers and the man and his assistant were being overwhelmed trying to manage everything. As I watched the assistant walked away as though to grab more stock. Quickly I identified the shopkeeper and the potential buyers and confirmed that they weren¡¯t classers. Out of an idle curiosity and with little hope for anything I identified the weapons on the table to see if they were like the bloodletting dagger I still had. Most of them were plain and just as I was about to give up I saw an older looking dagger, covered in green flecks of rust off in the back corner with what looked like runic script decorated up the hilt.


    [Assassin of the church] Common. A blade made for those of the church to kill their enemies. The weapon secretes an unknown poison said to be curable only by a clergy member. Crafted, Upgradable.


    My eyes widened as I read the information about the weapon. Carefully looking at the other customers one of whom was loudly arguing that the weapon she was after was in fact far too expensive and the shopkeeper who was vehemently defending his product and emphasising its quality I determined that they were all sufficiently distracted with their negotiations . Confirming again that fade was active I reached her arm out hiding it next to the table and keeping it out of the shopkeeper¡¯s view. Slowly reaching up I grabbed the weapon from the table and withdrew it twisting her arm so that it remained out of view.


    Stepping back I turned to make a clean getaway, but when I heard a shout of behind me. Glancing back over my shoulder I saw the assistant I had forgotten about come back from around the corner, and as I heard him shout thief I knew that the time for subtly had come to an end. Immediately I took off, hearing the assistant doing the same.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    Quickly I ducked into the crowd trying to get myself out of view and reuse fade which had deactivated once I had been spotted unfortunately and unsurprisingly it didn¡¯t work and the assistant was hot on my trail


    Ducking away into the crowd which had not bothered to stop at the shout, I increased my pace, not running or I would draw more attention but a very quick walk. I also tore off my shirt and undid my hair and raised a dust mask on the lower half of my face to help hide my identity, hoping that the change in appearance would help with throwing the man off my trail.


    Glancing behind me I noticed the man was still behind me and making ground through the crowd, however fortunately he was still scanning the crowd and he didn¡¯t actually have his gaze locked onto me. Slowly I started to divert myself away to try and get myself lost further. However as I did so the man shifted and started to follow me again. Concerned I shifted myself again through the crowd along a different side street and watched again as he continued to follow me. What is going on? I wondered very concerned.


    Then a thought hit me and I scanned him with identify. As the result came back to me his eyes immediately locked with mine.


    [Merchant] L15


    Muttering curses damning that I missed scanning him earlier to the lower planes I took off into a dead sprint. somehow hearing the sound of his thundering footsteps over the crowd behind me.


    ***


    Darting down another back alley I turned to hear him still behind me and quickly making up the distance. I had been running for almost 10 minutes away from and I had even added two points into dexterity and vitality, hoping it would help with my speed and endurance but it clearly was coming up short. Looking ahead I saw the alley coming up to a dead end with a wall cutting off the space between the two houses.


    In desperation I tried to use my climbing skills to escape over the wall but before I even made it halfway up I felt a hand on my ankle pulling me back down. Losing my grip I tumbled down making sure I rolled to both break the grip on my leg and cushion the fall. Thank you captain Tiberius for those lessons in how to properly fall.


    Quickly getting up I withdrew the new knife from its sheath and also withdrew my bloodletting dagger from the new sheath I had for it at my waist.


    The assistant getting back up from where my roll had threw him to the ground glared at me. ¡°Return that at once you thief, that is more precious than you could possibly realise.¡±


    ¡°Is telling a thief that something is valuable when the person who you took it from is unarmed a wise idea¡± I asked raising an eyebrow at him.


    ¡°No¡± he smiled cruelly ¡°but telling said thief he is a classer that will kill her without a second thought is.¡±


    So my identify didn¡¯t give me away I realised, pleasantly surprised.


    ¡°Why are you smiling bastard child, I¡¯m about to break open your skull¡± the man shouted glaring at the small smile that had run across my face. ¡°Even if you somehow manage to kill me the church of ascension will hunt you down, that weapon is important to them and is being used to hunt a dangerous classer in the region, they are all able to be tracked down and are considered a vital asset.¡±


    Me I realised in horror the knife was being used to hunt me, how the hell am I this unlucky?


    ¡°Then why do you have one?¡± I asked, ¡°Clearly you are someone the church would hold in such high esteem being a cheap knife seller.¡±


    The man scowled in annoyance ¡°I know people firstly, and at the moment these are being distributed everywhere. There is a new classer in this area they have confirmed that needs to be killed, and they are making sure people they trust in all walks and have the ability to identify said person has them. Now return the weapon or die.¡± he said, withdrawing a sword from what appeared to be thin air.


    ¡°And why should I believe you?¡± I asked, readying my blades and glancing over my shoulder to confirm that there was no way I missed to escape ¡°For all I know you will kill me anyway.¡±


    ¡°You, he said laughing ¡° Your useless. You''re not a classer as no classer would try to rob as you say a pathetic knife stand and there is no other reason to kill you, unless you don''t pass it to me now.¡±


    ¡°Okay Im trusting you here¡± I said edging myself closer towards him and rotating the blade so the top of the hilt was facing him. He reached and grabbed it using his left hand and grabbed the top but stooped and stiffened as soon as he touched the hilt.


    ¡°Wait, your¡± he began


    Immediately realising what he had discovered and hoping his shock was enough to save me I ripped the dagger form his weak grasp and drove it directly into his stomach, unprepared even with his likely superior abilities due to his higher levels he was unable to react quickly enough to avoid it. Immediately I withdrew the weapon and backed up hoping that the poison on the weapon was enough.


    ¡°You bitch¡± the man growled, stumbling back slightly, his grip on the sword in his hand shaking. ¡°your dead¡±


    Gripping his weapon more firmly he raised it above his head and went for a very telegraphed overhead cut. Stepping in as I had been taught long ago I crossed my blades and caught the sword between them as close to the hilt as I could. Grunting I was almost driven to my knees, shocked at how strong the attack was. Shoving the sword to the side causing him in his weak position to stumble I drove the poisoned dagger into his side again and sliced the dagger along his neck causing blood to burst out in a torrent.


    Stepping back as I watched him sink to his knees and the light slowly go out of his eyes I turned and thew up what little food I had eaten onto the cobbles.


    ¡°Well¡± Lady Xing said ¡°This stealing thing you don''t seem to be particularly good at, but for a princess you seem surprisingly good at murder.¡±

 Chapter 6 - Shopping for Identities

    I gasped, turning around to see Lady Xing standing behind me, arms crossed and looking over the scene with her classic raised eyebrow.


    ¡°How long were you here?¡± I asked looking at her in shock


    ¡°The whole time, I can¡¯t exactly help you if I¡¯m not watching you can I?¡±


    ¡°And you didn¡¯t think to help¡± I asked voice raising to a shriek as the stress and anger at the situation finally caught up with me.


    ¡°Why would I¡± she asked scowling as she crossed her arms. ¡°I¡¯m not here to baby you, if you can¡¯t deal with a low life merchant you aren¡¯t going to last very long. Also if I was going to protect you the system recognises that and penalises your gains accordingly.¡±


    Almost smacking myself in the head at my own stupidity I quickly went and checked my notifications, and by the upper planes there was a lot of them.


    Absorb had failed to consume the class merchant


    Congratulations Absorber class has levelled up from level 1 to level 2


    Congratulations Rouge class has levelled up from level 2 to level 5


    Congratulations General skill Senses has upgraded from level 1 to level 2


    Congratulations General skill Running has upgraded from level 1 to level 5


    Congratulations General skill Dagger Skills has upgraded from level 1 to level 4


    Congratulations Rouge skill Fade has upgraded from level 1 to level 3


    Congratulations Rouge skill Silent Footsteps has upgraded from level 1 to level 3


    Congratulations Rouge skill Pickpocketing has upgraded from level 1 to level 2


    Congratulations Absorber skill Absorb has upgraded from level 1 to level 2


    Congratulations Absorber skill identify has leveled up from level 1 to level 5


    ¡°The improvements are significant aren''t they¡± Lady Xing said with a smirk ¡°If I was going to interfere the gains would have been half that at best.¡±


    ¡°The penalty is that big?¡± I asked in shock, still marvelling over the gains, thinking about how some of her abilities seem to grow, particularly she was sure in retrospect that she was running significantly faster at the end than at the beginning.


    ¡°Anyway your training ability seems particularly suspect, I still don¡¯t know anywhere near enough about being a classer as I should, and on top of that just being told use your skills is not particularly helpful.¡± I said


    ¡°Help? I¡¯m not here to help you by making things easy¡± lady Xing said chuckling ¡°your a baby bird who wants to start learning how to fly, do you know how the only way to do that is?¡±


    I looked at her suspiciously sensing a trap ¡°no I can¡¯t say that my education, which you provided me¡± I pointed out ¡°ever taught me anything about birds¡±


    ¡°Their parents throw them out of their nest and let them fend for themselves.¡± She said flatly her arms still crossed. Turning she began waking down the alley stopping to kick the body with her boot as she passed. ¡°Loot that man and follow me.¡± she continued, not bothering to stop. I will make sure no one comes down and bothers you.¡±


    I walked carefully over to the body of the man who I killed, carefully prodding him with my dagger to confirm that he was dead, despite the notification about absorbing his class that seemed to confirm it. Shockingly there was no response.


    A man looked much different in death I decided watching his pale slack face as I rifled through his pockets, using identify on everything to confirm that nothing he was wearing was particularly valuable. Unfortunately the man only had a few coins on him and a solid gold ring. On a whim I also grabbed the sword the man had wielded, which unfortunately didn¡¯t appear to have any properties useful enough to appear on identify. However I grabbed it anyway looking at confusion when I saw there was no sheath on his belt.


    Shrugging and deciding that the mystery was not worth further investigation I placed the ring and his coins into my coin purse. Placing the sword in a loop on my belt I ran to the front of the alley to make sure I didn¡¯t delay Lady Xing and her potential teaching any more than necessary.


    ¡°Where are we going now?¡± I asked as I followed her through the winding streets, down closer to the entrance of the west gate of the city. Taking back alleys and paths I had never seen before I followed behind her closely as she walked with purpose. I had tried to ask her more about being a classer however she frankly had refused to respond to any of my questions.


    ¡°Finally a better question¡± Lady Xing said with what appeared with a sigh of relief ¡°we are registering you with some guilds. What name should we register you under,¡± she asked almost seeming to talk to yourself ¡°we can¡¯t use your real name or identity after all.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°What guilds? Why?¡± I asked in shock. I had never been into a guild in my life and they were generally considered where low lifes and troublemakers hang out, and not somewhere a princess would be caught dead in.


    ¡°All of them I can get you into, particularly the hunters guild, the bounty hunters guild, the dungeoneers guild and the assassins guild.¡± Lady Xing said marching along. ¡°Hmm, I think Lady Ink has a nice ring to it, we will go with that.¡±


    ¡°Hey do I get a say?¡± I asked almost jogging along to keep up next to her long strides.


    ¡°Do you have an opinion on your name?¡± she asked in a tone that indicated that it better be good for there would be consequences. Immediately my mind went blank and I ended up just shaking my head. ¡°I thought as much¡± she said with a morbidly satisfied tone. ¡°Anyway we¡¯re here.¡± She opened a seemingly random door along a back alley filled with decaying foodstuffs and other rubbish discarded haphazardly and walked in dragging me in along with her.


    ¡°Shade I need you to craft an identity¡± Lady Xing said as soon as she walked in. Looking around I saw what looked to be the back of a tailor¡¯s shop with fabric and scissors strewn everywhere, the feylight above was flickering causing odd shapes to be thrown along the walls with the rolls haphazard placement. Lady Xing walked in as if she owned the place and immediately sighed as she walked into the main room. Dirty plates filled the table with one chipped pitcher of water leaning precariously on the edge and mould covered several sections of the wall. as I stepped the floor creaked ominously as if the floor had been eaten by pests and was constantly at risk of falling through. Walking to the table she grabbed the half filled pitcher of water resting there and immediately threw the contents onto a grubby armchair covered in dirty fabric lying in the corner. The chair erupted.


    ¡°Did you have to do that Crimson?¡± Shade asked water dripping from his clothes and face and looking miserable. It turned out that Shade was a man standing at five foot flat, with a poorly maintained scraggly beard, and watery blue eyes, and waking up he had clutched two bottles of alcohol in his hands. I was not particularly impressed.


    ¡°You forget that I own the ground you walk on.¡± Lady Xing snapped ¡°I could kill you now and not a single person would dare complain, you do as I say.¡±


    ¡°Fine you psychopath¡± he muttered, in a louder voice he asked ¡°what am I doing.¡±


    ¡°Full setup for this one,¡± lady Cing snapped with a click of her fingers in my direction ¡°mask, facecchange, armour, the lot.¡±


    ¡°When do you need it done by,¡± Shade asked the slovenly look melting off him as he looked at me closely, clearly not understanding the definition of personal space as he got himself well within touching distance. Instinctively I started to step back however he grabbed my hand and with a strength that belayed his size. Instinctively I used Identify on him as I was certain with his strength that he was a classer.


    [Tailor] ???


    ¡°Hmm what was that¡± he asked looking at me closer ¡°examine, appraise, some kind of identification skill for sure.¡± Shade asked


    ¡°Really? That is curious¡± Lady Xing said her eyes drilling into me ¡°I thought you were just a standard stealth class, but that¡¯s not a skill for those. Anything you want to add?¡±


    Pursing my lips I shook my head vigorously making sure to not say anything. Now as a classer I couldn¡¯t trust anyone with the specific details, even more so considering the churches price on my head. Thinking ahead I was already quite concerned about what I could reveal at the school. I was hoping to stumble across another class by that point, to give a further element of surprise, as I had heard two classes wasn¡¯t unheard of. So If anyone peered behind the first class they would see the hopefully more exciting second class and leave it there.


    ¡°You do have some kind of stealth class at least,¡± Lady Xing muttered ¡°I will work it out.¡±


    ¡°Anyway¡± Shade said hurriedly, doing his best to relieve the budding tension between the two of them ¡°what do you want your mask to look like? It will conceal all of your details and modify your appearance slightly up to level 743 at a minimum.¡±


    ¡°That is an oddly specific level limit?¡± I said with a raised brow ¡°And can you please go over exactly what you are providing me?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the highest level I have had someone try to identify through the mask for testing purposes and they confirmed that they couldn¡¯t see the identity of the person behind it.¡± Shade admitted, raising my arms and examining them closely. I will note that nothing is infallible and this can be seen through using specific skills at varying levels. However most skills need a very high level of proficiency, normally at least rare to penetrate it.¡±


    The man rushed and grabbed an absurdly large levels of fabric from several rooms and continued. ¡°And what I can do is make full basic armour sets, that conceal your identity, and will be plenty protective enough for quite some time. What name has she given you?¡±


    ¡°Lady ink¡± I muttered sourly still not really a fan of the name.


    ¡°Hmm I can see it¡± he said muttering. ¡°I¡¯m thinking a plain full faced mask with silver eyeholes and one silver tear running down the cheek.¡± As I watched his hands began moving faster than I could see and several dozen masks of varying colours appeared next to me, seven masks in black, and one white, dark green, grey and tan mask respectively, all with a silvery fabric covering the eyes and a single drop, of what appeared to be water yet was in the same silvery colour dropping down the left eye.


    ¡°That actually looks incredible,¡± I admitted ¡°what¡¯s with the colour schemes though?¡±


    Shade smiled ¡°the white is formal, black is for general wear, grey is for night stealth, green is for forest stealth and tan is for desert. The gray is better than black at night as even at night nothing is truly black, or else you wouldn¡¯t be able to see anything at all.¡±


    ¡°And these will come with full armour, in matching colours?¡± I asked excitedly.


    ¡°Entire suits¡± he nodded


    A thought struck me and I turned to Lady Xing and asked ¡°can I also use this for the Academy?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± she nodded ¡°what¡¯s the point of making a name for yourself if you can¡¯t actually flaunt it?¡±


    ¡°Thank you so much!¡± I exclaimed running over and quickly giving her a hug.


    ¡°No thanks for me.¡± Shade grumbled ¡°it¡¯s not as if I¡¯m doing anything here.¡±


    ¡°Why are you asking for a hug too?¡± I asked raising my eyebrows. Shade went beet red and hastily changed the topic.


    ¡°Do you have any ideas for what you want to look like when not wearing the mask?¡± He asked hands still rapidly moving as he played with one of the black masks doing things with it I couldn¡¯t even see ¡°any suggestions on features whether you want to appear slightly larger or smaller etcetera?¡±


    ¡°Slightly slimmer¡± I immediately said, ¡°and let¡¯s give me a slightly softer face structure with blue eyes and short purple hair if possible¡±


    ¡°Nothing is ever simple¡± he grumbled grabbing the mask he was playing with and placing it in my hand. ¡°This mask works completely. Get out, and come back in an hour or so to see the rest.¡±


    ¡°Thank you!¡± I called as Lady Xing turned and shoved me out the door.

 Chapter 7 - The Adventurers Guild

    ¡°So, probably something I should have brought up earlier, but are we going to do anything about the body of the man I killed?¡± I asked


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    Lady Xing just snorted ¡°do what exactly, any kind of law enforcement is overworked, unhappy and don¡¯t care unless someone is dropping a large bag of money in front of them, it will be deemed a robbery.¡± Carefully looking around she quickly lead me down increasing dark and dank back alleys


    ¡°Also in a worse case scenario they work out he was a classer and whilst that would draw more attention classers are not bound by mortal rules in alot of cases, which means that they aren¡¯t protected by said laws either.¡±


    ¡°Any other world shattering revelations you want to drop on me?¡± I exclaimed ¡°what do you mean that the laws are different?¡±


    ¡°Shut up and put your mask on¡± she said slipping on a bright red mask of her own with two black daggers forming an impression of a smile. As she did so a set of silver chain armour appeared covering all her other clothes, the only other notable thing about her clothes was a red glove decorating her left hand, looking almost as if she had dipped it in a bucket of blood. ¡°We have almost arrived.¡±


    Quickly slipping on my own mask I followed Lady Xing into a large building, the closest building to the gate, which was generally considered one of the worst places to live in the city. Despite this fact the building was in surprisingly good condition with a large plot of land and three stories, which was enough space to rival most inns. A bright red lacquered door stood proudly at the front, unfortunately mired by what appeared to be a hand axe deeply embedded into the door, which prevented it from swinging fully open. A roughly hewn sign proclaiming that this was the adventurers guild lopsidedly hung above the door.


    ¡°Clearly the occupants of this place probably aren¡¯t the most sophisticated of fellows, I thought watching as lady Xing firmly opened the door wincing at the groan of the hand axe hitting the wall. I quickly followed in behind her.


    Scanning the ground floor it mostly looked like a traditional main floor of an inn. If one excluded the fact that everyone was armed to the teeth. The clearly rougher members of society glared at them in disdain, looking all the more irritated as she confidently marched to the reception area of the guild.


    ¡°Yes¡± the lady behind the counter squeaked looking around and seemingly overwhelmed by the gazes of everyone that seemed to pierce into them.


    ¡°New license for this one¡± Lady Xing said dismissively, ¡°set the inductee as crimson¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry who? Is there anything after crimson?¡±


    ¡°No just crimson¡± she growled at the now very terrified receptionist. ¡°And expedite the process to make it happen today.¡±


    Behind them a man scoffed and slammed his hand on the table with his mug. ¡°Your not crimson.¡± He said laughing.


    ¡°Unfortunately I can¡¯t expedite it, that would need to go through the guild master¡± the receptionist said paling more with every passing second


    ¡°Well get him down here¡±


    ¡°I cant, he asked to not be disturbed¡± the receptionist was almost whispering at that point.


    ¡°Look at me bitch crimson is over class 750 at the latest count and has single handedly saved the city on two occasions, don¡¯t lie.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be disturbed he said¡± Lady Xing asked


    The receptionist nodded vigorously


    ¡° well I¡¯m sorry to say that he is about to be disturbed.¡± Lady Xing replied as she took two steps over to the heckler and grabbed him by his head and slammed it through the table.


    ¡°You guilders are so weak these days¡± she remarked as I quickly moved back towards the entrance ready to dart out very suddenly as the entire building glared at Lady Xing in shock. The man only groaned weakly in response. ¡°Well who¡¯s next?¡±


    Half the bar roze to their feet.


    ***


    ¡°On what plane of hell happened here?¡± The guild master roared as he came down the stairs to a destroyed bar, some of his best men crumpled on the floor and on ruined furniture with various bruises and different states of consciousness.


    ¡°Glenda care to explain¡± he asked turning around to the receptionist who raised a shaking finger and pointed into the corner where Lady Xing and I sat on some of the last functional chairs in the entire building.


    ¡°She came in and claimed to be crimson, John doubted her and she put his head through his table.¡±


    Already seeming to understand what had happened next he sighed and put his head in his hands and deeply sighed.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°And lots of people jumped up to respond but it wasn¡¯t enough, she just demolished them.¡±


    ¡°Indeed¡± Lady Xing nodded turning from where she was pretending to converse with me whilst we had waited. Shockingly even after we had destroyed more than  three quarters of the furniture in the building and had knocked out over half the patrons it had still taken the guild master almost three minutes to return after we had decided to sit down. ¡°I even only used stats, a rather poor performance from the largest guild headquarters in the country.¡±


    ¡°Crimson, what possessed you to decide to come here and completely ruin the ground floor of my guild?¡± The guild master asked completely ignoring the question about the adventurers lack of skill.


    ¡°Oh off your high horse Borris¡± Lady Xing snapped ¡°this is mostly your own fault, I asked very politely to see you and I was told that you weren¡¯t to be interrupted knowing full well that I have permission to see you at will for any reason.¡±


    ¡°And so wrecking the floor was a suitable response?¡± Borris exclaimed? ¡°How is that reasonable¡±


    ¡°Do not test me boy¡± Lady Xing said appearing in front of him as if by magic a knife already placed firmly under his chin. ¡°You know the law and where I stand.¡±


    Borris raised his hands slowly and very dramatically. ¡°so what can I, the lowly guild master do for the red hand of the crown¡±


    Lady Xing scowled and pressed the dagger in further. ¡°Not call me that for a start, you know how I feel about that name. Also when I ask for the guild master let me see you, and maybe let the idiots on this floor know that mocking, as you say the red hand may reduce their life expectancy dramatically.¡±


    ¡°You know that wasn¡¯t what I was actually asking¡± Borris scowled slightly moving back to prevent his throat from being slit as he spoke ¡°why did you come into this building, also you will be paying for the damages.¡±


    ¡°You and what army¡± Lady Xing scoffed ¡°your threat would seem more reasonable if I hadn¡¯t just gone and wiped out half the building using purely stats and was capable of beheading you at a thought. But I want a full bronze solo operative membership for this one.¡±


    ¡°Unacceptable¡± the guild master said ¡°that requires at least a year of service and several tests, we have no idea if she is even capable of doing any of that.¡±


    ¡°She isn¡¯t at the moment but you will give it to her anyway.¡±


    ¡°Absolutely not, we have standards here, what will people say if they see someone skipping up the ranks with no actual experience.¡±


    ¡°Most likely complain about nepotism until they prove themselves or more likely get themselves killed, your son was an excellent example of the latter.¡± Lady Xing snarked


    Borris¡¯s face went purple and voice turned deathly quiet. ¡°Do not speak of things you do not understand witch.¡±


    ¡°Then don¡¯t interrupt official orders¡± Lady Xing remarked shoving a letter to his chest if you had not interrupted me in the first place and had competent people in the building we would spare such discussions. But you tried to punch a stone user only discover they were hiding the metal shell inside.¡±


    Borris read the letter lips thinning as he read. Crunching the paper in his fist he turned and shouted ¡°Glenda get her the bronze solo operator license, and you gawkers find somewhere else to be unless you want me to charge you!¡±


    It seemed that the injured people on the floor miraculously recovered and exited the building at a rapid pace, and in no time at all the floor had been completely cleared.


    Walking back to the desk I was quietly asked to place my hand on a glass orb by Glenda who still sat shaking like a leaf


    ¡°Why? What does it do I asked in trepidation. The purpose of the mask was to hide my identity and if this revealed it the mask was as good as useless.


    ¡°It creates a profile marker that can be used to confirm who you are, and is required to give you your membership.¡± Glenda sai


    ¡°Do it¡± Lady Xing casually said waving her hand in dismissal, her eyes still locked with The Guildmaster who was glaring at her angrily.


    Trusting Lady Xing at least somewhat, I carefully placed my hand on the orb which glowed slightly, Glenda looked at it in confusion.


    ¡°An issue¡± Borris asked looking over and to my horror sounded darkly excited at the thought.


    Glenda jumped and quickly responded ¡°No sir I can make the ID no problem! The orb just needs to be replaced clearly as the result is just coming in slightly faded for some reason.¡±


    ¡°Bah¡± Borris waved her off seemingly disappointed however I saw a thoughtful expression cross Lady Xings face out of the corner of my eye however as I looked back her face was schooled into an expression of perfect neutrality.


    ¡°What would you wish for your identity to be miss¡± Glenda asked


    ¡°Lady Ink¡± I stated firmly making sure no trace of doubt entered my mind despite my lack of certainty about the name.


    ¡°Well she has your name sense¡± Borris said dryly and I tried very hard to not show any discomfort.


    Soon afterwards after a minute of watching the wheezing and groaning of a very poorly maintained artificer machine I received from a still incredibly flustered Glenda a bronze card with Lady Ink written firmly along the top and a S stamped inside a circle in the bottom right corner.


    Lady Ink came over and peered over my shoulder to examine the token closely and nodded firmly to herself, and I watched as Glenda seemingly sunk into her chair sighing in relief . Afterwards she turned to leave throwing over her shoulder, ¡°I assume that when we go to the Hunters guild tomorrow there will be a bronze token for lady ink there.¡±


    ¡°Of course you damnable witch just get out¡± Borris shouted to her back as I scrambled out after her.


    ¡°Well that went rather well, I thought¡± Lady Xing exclaimed waking out.


    Looking at her I noticed a familiar orb in her hand ¡°Is that the orb I just used¡± I gasped.


    ¡°Of course, I have to give the assassin¡¯s Guild something to give you a card and there is no way in hell you are going down there until you are significantly more powerful, Also it gives Borris more work as now he can¡¯t just pass this to the hunters guild and that¡¯s always fun.¡± Walking through one of the few public parks the city had and maintained close to the gate to inspire and intimidate foreign guests , she slid the orb and a note into a hole in the roots.


    ¡°A dead drop spot¡± she said noticing my confusion, ¡°someone will pick it up later, that¡¯s not important¡±


    ¡°What is important then?¡± I asked looking at her warily suddenly very sure I was stepping into a trap.


    ¡°What are you hiding with your class little princess¡± Lady Xing asked her eyes boring into me as if piercing into my very soul.


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <button></button>

 Chapter 8 - Abandoned

    My immediate reaction was to panic and I quickly attempted to stutter out a denial whilst I stepped back in terror, despite knowing there was no chance to flee someone anywhere close to her level no matter how hard I tried.


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother denying it I have been researching and examining the oddities of the system for longer than you have been alive.¡± Lady Xing said casually ¡°and even if it didn¡¯t the panic is a bit of a giveaway, you really should know better princess.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not telling you anything¡± I said vehemently ¡°Details of our class is one thing that is sacred and should never be revealed.¡±


    ¡°The problem with that statement is you need to be strong enough to defend it.¡± Lady Xing said slyly ¡°You have some identity skill and therefore if you were stronger when you used it on me you would be ignoring the very statement that you are using.¡±


    And without another word I felt the rogue profile I was using to protect the absorber class hit by a crushing force, instantly driving me to my knees as I tried to hold myself together. By some miracle it hadn¡¯t pierced through my defences and I tried my best to instinctively reinforce them shoving with my mana to try and hold back the dam. Seconds after I felt another blow and then another as Lady Xing continued to batter at my defences whilst I tried to reinforce them. Looking at her I saw steely determination and a flat emotionless expression that chilled me to my core.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to be helping me?¡± I asked desperately gritting my teeth against the mental strain of holding what felt like tissue paper together against the hammer that was whatever skill Lady Xing was using against me. As liquid streamed down my face I realised I was crying at the pressure ¡°Please stop this!¡±


    A look of horror seemed to cross her face and the pressure eased, and as it did so I sunk to my knees in relief. I felt a drip coming off my lip and pressing a finger above it came back red. Somehow the desperate mental defense I used had burst the blood vessels in my nose.


    ¡°Be very careful about doing that i  you n the future¡± Lady Xing said quietly ¡°you almost killed yourself just then protecting whatever secrets your trying to hold. You probably drained all your mana and possibly some of your health.¡±


    Looking at my notifications I saw that she was right and my man¡¯s had indeed bottomed out along with half my health. However I saw something else there that shocked me.


    Congratulations the skill has reached level 2


    ***


    Congratulations the skill has reached Level 1 Uncommon! Read the description for more information.


    I gasped in disbelief looking at how much the skill had upgraded, and my first uncommon skill! I was so surprised and looking at my new skill upgrade that I completely missed the bottle thrown at me.


    ¡°Oww¡± I said in shock as the glass vial bounced off my head, completely distracting me from the upgrade. ¡°Are you trying to kill me?


    ¡°If I was trying to kill you, as you just saw from my non aggressive skill use on you you would be dead¡± Lady Xing said in complete seriousness. ¡°You badly need to get stronger and you have limited time to do it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m well aware,¡± I muttered darkly ¡°but whatever you just did helped with one of my skills.¡±


    ¡°Oh is that so?¡± Lady Xing asked ¡°which one?¡±


    ¡°The one that allows me to change the display¡­¡± I trailed off and glared at lady Xing.


    ¡°A curious skill, and that is all the explanation I need for the moment, people with such a skill normally have quite a strong class so congratulations!¡± Lady Xing said, clapping and turning on her heel to walk away.


    ¡°Was that a skill?¡± I asked suspiciously, trying very hard to avoid stomping after her in anger, ¡°and are you going to actually help me or are you just going to drag me around and give me vague suggestions, you have explained nothing!¡±


    ¡°Because I can¡¯t ¡°Lady zing snapped turning around quicker than I could blink, grabbing my shoulders and rooting me in place with a grip stronger than Iron. ¡°I''m toeing the line of making your life more difficult as is! The more I spoon feed you the less you can work out for yourself and therefore the less you can achieve! I raised you, do you think I don''t want to help you more!¡±


    I hissed in pain as her grip caused my bones to groan, strained under the pressure. However Lady Xing ignored me and the strain actually increased as she continued to rant. ¡°This path is a path for one! People in teams and groups always learn slower and will never advance as quickly as one thrown into the fire. So you want help, what do you think im doing! Throwing you into situations you will learn and need to survive. Got me!¡±


    With that I screamed as there was a crack as she broke both my collar bones, and before I could react she kicked out at my knee where i felt a horrible popping sound and dropped to the ground gasping in pain. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°You want my help child, this is how you become strong enough to survive. No help, no support, just live. This is how I did it and how all of the strongest have done it. Get home and find a way to heal yourself, I will leave your next task on your bed for tomorrow.¡± Lady Xing said, turning around and walking away.


    ¡°You''re going to leave me here, now as it''s coming to night in this city!¡± I asked in shock trying to avoid moving to avoid aggravating any of the aches that I had coming form my shoulders or my knees. ¡°You monster!¡±


    ¡°My darling princess, to survive we all must become monsters.¡± Lady Xing said, turning and disappearing in a flash of smoke, ignoring my cry of outrage that echoed in her wake.


    Struggling to my feet and looking around in horror I watched as the sun setting behind the castle almost on the opposite side of the city from the east gate I stood at. Just then the horror of what Lady Xing had done sunk in. She had left me in Pearlrock, alone at night, and injured. And in a city known throughout the whole plane for its controlled criminal element and impressive nightlife.


    *****


    Hobbling and wincing I, scrambled up a fence and managed to climb on top of the nearest house, gritting my teeth to hold in the yells and cries of pain. Considering how many alleyways that were narrow enough to jump across and how tight together buildings were if not stacked into townhouses I decided that whilst it may be more painful it was almost certainly the safer way to travel.


    Keeping low and moving slowly and carefully to not activate my wounds I activated silent footsteps to keep quiet. I learned quickly that fade was designed for crowds and not when obviously walking along a roof. I kept it active anyway just in case it provided me with any additional benefits. Hobbling, I slowly jumped from rooftop to rooftop aiming back towards the castle as best I could. Scanning the horizon as I tried to plan the path with the least jumping required I saw movement coming from ten blocks over heading in my direction.


    Not willing to risk a confrontation or expose myself if at all possible I attempted something risky. Using the chimney on the roof and the shadow it contained as cover I crouched down and cast shadow magic to conceal myself blending into the shadows. Or at least that is what I tried. My poor fumbling around using a skill i had never used before instead just covered the entire roof and a massive area around me in shadows and using my senses skill I was barely able to see out of the shadows, however I definitely noticed the few people around me looking up to the area I was in with surprise.


    Panicking as I looked around and saw that the group of at least five people were now coming towards me with significant speed I quickly decided to attempt to go through a crowd that I saw forming earlier a couple streets away. Jumping down I ran as best I could over to the crowd I saw looking behind me as the men jumped off the roof and followed after me. using my fade I ran into the crowd. Deciding to head into the middle to avoid the group as best as possible and trying to hide the tremendous pain I was in I almost missed the crowd ending. Inside the large ring of people that had been made on the street two men were fighting.


    I gasped in surprise watching the two men, looking around and trying to fade back into the crowd in case I had been seen, but the two men who were fighting were fighting using skills! I had rarely seen this and definitely not in some public place over what appeared to be an actual grudge. Watching the two men were seemingly low level elemental users one being flame based and the other being earth based. As I watched the rapid display of combat the fire mage using a heated knife and the earth mage using heavy metal gauntlets I began to truly understand what the difference of classers were. Their moves were so fluid and they striked, parrayed dodged and kicked in almost a blur even to my enhanced vision.


    Identifying them I saw that they didn''t seem to be as high leveled as some however they both clearly were well above my capacity to defend against.


    [Spark] lLevel ??


    [Soil Manipulator] Level ??


    As I watched the fight, still enthralled however still walking my way out of the crowd I saw one of the men making a beeline for me. Identifying him I realised I had a problem.


    [Hound] Level ??


    Clearly he had some kind of tracking skill considering he was beelining in my direction and the remaining men I could see spreading themselves through the crowd in an attempt to catch me if I tried slipping past. I also saw that one of the men calling out to the fighters. ¡°Wrap this up Sam, we have need of you.¡±


    Within three exchanges the spark was unconscious and bruised lying facedown on the cobbles with the Soil manipulator coming over to speak with the man who had called out for him. Groans of disappointment and jubilation echoed as the crowd slowly started to disperse.


    Cursing to myself softly I started to head over to the hound, hoping I could get rid of him and hopefully get away, I didn''t know what I had stumbled into but I knew I wanted no part of it.


    Slowly I stepped to the side and started looping back towards the man in an attempt to slip through the line, particularly before the earth manipulator joined in.


    With some relief I noticed the man was trailing the exact path I had followed and had yet to see me having turned around. Making sure I kept out of his range of sight I waited until he turned slightly. Immediately I took the opportunity to strike out hitting him in the back of the head with the pommel of my dagger. Crying out he fell on the cobbles in his surprise and I took the opportunity to kick him in the head as hard as I possibly could.


    ¡°Gotcha¡± a voice came out from my left and with the warning and my reactions I managed to escape his grasp, tuning in shock to see a man appear as if from thin air to his left. ¡°Benson¡¯s down¡± he cried out as he tried to grab me again. As best I could I dived into the remaining crowd as all the men started to run towards the voice.


    Turning down a side street I heard the pounding of footsteps and a chunk of dirt hit the wall behind me., letting me know that the mage was now on my tail. Sobbing in pain due to running on my injured knee I put on a burst of speed down several tight alleys trying to loose them, still hearing the pounding of footsteps, seeming to spread out down the streets, having lost me in the first few turns. I thanked the upper plains inwardly that the earth mage was not strong enough or smart enough to manipulate the ground or the walls of the alley as I ran past, or had found me after my first few turns, considering he likely had higher stats considering the fight I saw.


    Diving around several blind alleys ten minutes later I finally managed to lose my pursuers. In a nicer part of town I slowed down and started to relax hearing no one behind me.


    Hours later I managed to get back to the castle, and as I entered my room I collapsed onto my bed tired, and still in tremendous pain but without the will to go any further that night.

 Chapter 9 - Reflection

    I woke up the next morning almost unable to move, I was in so much pain. Moaning, I rolled over and felt the crinkle of paper beneath me. Carefully I removed it, wincing as every rotation of my arm sent pain lancing up my shoulder. As I read the note I softly cursed in outrage. Lady Xing had somehow managed to get me one of the most basic missions from the adventures guild, one that even I, someone who had never adventured before in my life knew about. And how I know about it? My father constantly complained that it wasn¡¯t done! And it wasn¡¯t done because although vitally important it was also one of the most disgusting and least profitable tasks that could be done.


    Listing #0001v24386


    Task: kill at a minimum one hundred monster class rats.


    Reward: 10 copper crowns per 100 rats.


    Notes: will only accept payments in batches of 100.


    Kills will need to be confirmed by the head of each rat.


    Date: no due date


    Looking at the letter initially all I felt was outrage. I was a princess! And a classer! Why should I of all people do such pitiful work? But as I thought about it some more I realised, there wasn¡¯t any other work I could do. All other missions and particularly all dungeons required  youlevels and proof of competency. And as I was the rats could kill me if enough came, it wasn¡¯t as though I had any mass area spells to kill them if I was swarmed.


    Sighing and still aching in pain I closed my eyes and slowly breathed in and out. Letting my thoughts settle down as I tried to plan. I knew that I was incredibly weak and I really needed to push myself to gain strength, however pushing myself without a goal would be pointless. I needed more information, and considering Lady Xings less than helpful information there was only one person I could really go to for help. And as I opened my eyes again deep within myself I came face to face with her. ¡°Hello Soul¡± I said ¡°I have a lot of questions.¡±


    ****


    Soul looked at me in outrage ¡°what have you done to yourself, your hurt and have made significant levels. You should not be levelling this quickly, and you really need to fix yourself!¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think my gains have been that significant?¡± I asked in confusion.


    ¡°You already have two skill promotions¡± Soul all but shrieked at me. ¡°In one day, this is not normal!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I asked in shock, looking at my status screen only to be washed with a myriad of notifications.


    Absorber class has failed to Consume the class bloodhound (Level 23)


    Congratulations the Subclass Rogue has levelled up to level 7


    Congratulations the Absorber skill Disguise class has reached Level 1 Uncommon! Options for upgrades are now available!


    Congratulations General Skill Senses has upgraded from level 2 to level 3


    Congratulations General skill Running has upgraded from level 5 to level 8


    Congratulations General skill Climbing has upgraded from level 1 to level 2


    Congratulations General skill Meditation has upgraded from level 1 to level 2


    Congratulations General skill Dagger Skills has upgraded from level 4 to level 5


    Congratulations General skill Pain resistance has reached Level 1 Uncommon! Options for upgrades are now available!


    Congratulations Rogue skill Silent footsteps has upgraded from level 3 to level 5


    Congratulations Rogue skill Basic shadow magic Has upgraded from level 1 to level 2


    Congratulations Rogue skill Fade has upgraded from level 3 to level 4


    Looking at my entire status sheet I really could see the significant progress I had made and felt slightly overwhelmed.


    Name: Dianne Elizabeth Tianshao


    Class: Absorber


    Strength


    8


    Dexterity


    8


    Vitality


    8


    Toughness


    7


    Willpower


    12


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Intelligence


    10


    Perception


    11


    Mana


    20


    Free Points


    29


    General Skills


    [Senses] Common 3


    [Running] Common 8


    [Basic medical knowledge] Common 1


    [Bartering] Common 1


    [Social graces] Common 2


    [Learning] Common 1


    [Climbing] Common 2


    [Meditation] Common 2


    [Dagger Skills] Common 5


    [Pain Resistance] Common 10 (Upgrades available)


    Absorber Class 2


    [Absorb] Common 2


    [Identify] Common 5


    [Disguise class] Common 10 (Upgrades available)


    [Absorbed Growth] Common 1


    [Aura] Common 5


    Rogue Subclass 5


    [Silent footsteps] Common 5


    [Basic Shadow magic] Common 1


    [Fade] Common 4


    [Pickpocketing] Common 2


    [Empty]


    [Empty]


    [Empty]


    [Empty]


    ¡°See what I mean!¡± Soul said throwing her hands up in frustration ¡°You also got a bunch of new skills, two in particular that I think you will like.¡±


    ¡°Oh those do look good I¡± admitted seeing the skills I had available


    [Regeneration (health)] general skill.


    gain health and heal injuries converting mana to do so. Cost of healing will depend on the severity and complexity of the damage.


    [Stealth attack] Rogue skill


    Deal increased damage up to double when the enemy is unaware of your presence prior to the attack being made.


    Immediately I replaced my first aid skill with regeneration, belatedly remembering that I probably should have used it yesterday before I set off, and added stealth attack to my Rogue skills, clearing out an empty slot.


    ¡°You are incredibly lucky to get that, most only get it after nearly dying. You''re likely quite compatible with it, "Soul said, looking as though she was undecided whether to be pissed off or excited about the excellent skill. ¡°and now that you have it you really need to use it unless you want to give yourself permanent damage that it would take an incredibly talented healer to solve¡± Soul said glaring at me clearly deciding she was upset


    ¡°I was that badly hurt?¡± I asked in some shock. ¡°I know it wasn¡¯t good but I didn¡¯t think was that bad.¡±


    ¡°Yes you were and that¡¯s mostly your own fault for deciding to run and fight whilst hurt and then not doing anything about it, you could have crippled yourself permanently. And whilst I know it¡¯s not entirely your fault it shows the league you are playing in right now. It¡¯s an epic rarity skill and those don¡¯t come around because you are being safe!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t really know what else I could have done there¡± I muttered to myself, louder I asked ¡°what does epic rarity mean in terms of skills? Does that give me a higher starting level?¡±


    ¡°Yes and No¡± Soul said shaking her head ¡°skills also have a ranking that corresponds both with how hard they are to get and how useful they are, in general if you had a common skill in swordsmanship you would need to level it up to legendary level to be as good as a legendary swordsmanship skill, it just hasn¡¯t been relevant to you as all your general skills are common skills, and I didn¡¯t want to overwhelm you with skill complexity. Being better and putting yourself in more stressful situations will get you better skills.¡±


    ¡°That seems really dramatic of a difference I said in some shock, does that make my skills useless relatively speaking? How far behind am I actually?¡±


    ¡°Im not going to lie to you, you are an incredibly late bloomer and as such you will have a lower quality of skills and levels relative to the average person your age and particularly the average noble, but you already knew that. Your only real option to catch up are via using the absorb skill to give yourself more classes, you get stats from every subclass level as well so you absolutely can catch up in that regard. And whilst you won¡¯t be as strong as any of your peers you will always be more versatile which should be your goal.¡±


    I grimaced to myself. I knew that I was going to do it and use my class consistently, hell I had used it three times in less than 24 hours! But I didn''t really want to go around killing any random person, attacking people in that manner would absolutely leave a permanent mark on my soul.


    ¡°I also need to understand what Lady Xing was talking about with not explaining things to me and why it was bad enough that it required her to almost cripple me.¡± I said to soul sitting down and trying to change the topic.


    Soul¡¯s expression told me she knew exactly what I was doing avoiding the conversation about using my class but indulged me anyway. ¡°Having information about skills and help with training reduces skill gain and growth significantly, reducing the benefits to about 10% of what you would¡¯ve gained otherwise as it doesn¡¯t count as your own work and rather you piggybacking off someone else. The only exception is if someone has the teaching skill which can keep up to 90% of the efficacy of learning it yourself.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s absurdly bad¡± I muttered, ¡°and that must be why the academy is so prized¡± a growing realisation dawning on me, ¡°it allows youth like ourselves to gain significant knowledge without the knowledge falloff.¡±


    ¡°Indeed,¡± soul agreed ¡°on top of that and whilst I hate to give that monster any credit, what Lady Xing has done is actually the opposite, she has hampered you and made you fight above your which can encourage levels and skill growth. You got such large levels because you were at such a disadvantage.¡±


    ¡°We are absolutely not giving that woman any more credit than necessary.¡± I agreed ¡°any other advice about improving my skills, is it worth going for better ones and replacing my current skills?¡±


    ¡°You already know the first option, Soul said looking at me with her arms crossed. ¡°The other things you can and should do is continue to push yourself and put yourself in dangerous positions. People who do that either end up as powerhouses or dead. Although it¡¯s about 1 powerhouse to every 10,000 deaths ¡±


    ¡°Why even suggest it then?¡± I demanded in outrage trying to glare her down. ¡°I don¡¯t plan on killing myself!¡±


    ¡°Because that¡¯s exactly what you did yesterday, against people who if they had placed their stats differently, or had just acted slightly smarter would have killed you!¡± Soul exploded ¡°And with your delayed start and surrounded by people significantly more powerful than you who may be trying to kill you, becoming powerful is the only way to survive!¡±


    I stared at her heart thundering as if it was was about to burst out of my chest. Soul seeing my expression took a deep breath and tried to calm down.


    ¡°Look I was a bit harsh just then but unfortunately this is what you need to do. You either die on your terms trying to get stronger or die on someone else¡¯s being weak. And we both know that you will always try and be stronger.¡±


    ¡°Any other things I should know?¡± I asked ¡°and what about upgrading my skills?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t upgrade them yet¡± soul immediately yelped ¡°the upgrades are based on experience and what you need from them, and you can still get levels on it even without upgrading. go back and get more experience and understand how you plan on building out your skills more. You know you will need to use your stats at some point too, get yourself some intelligence so you can actually use your regeneration properly.¡±


    I nodded ¡°thanks for your help. I will hopefully come back soon!¡±


    ¡°You better!¡± She called out ¡°I have so much to show you when you get stronger!¡±


    And with that I faded back out of my soulscape and back into the real world.


    Waking up I immediately used my regeneration skill to start healing myself after throwing 20 points into intelligence to increase my Mana Pool up to 60 and glared back down at the contract to kill rats that I had. Gritting my teeth to avoid crying out in pain as my knee popped back into place I said to the empty room ¡°Okay Lady Xing and Soul you win this round, you want a killer and someone who will push myself to grow you got her.¡±

 Chapter 10 - Escaping duties

    I would have loved to dramatically jump out of bed and go dramatically start the brutal murder of some rodents but unfortunately my body would not allow it.


    ¡°Oww¡± I groaned as my left collarbone jerked itself back into position, my right still aching as I watched my mana count drop back down to nothing. Unfortunately that left an aching knee and left shoulder from the healing process that wasn¡¯t fully complete, a roaring headache as regeneration had decided that my head had needed some healing as well, unfortunately even my significantly increased Mana count was still not enough to heal myself entirely. Clearly there was some other disadvantage to this regeneration as almost immediately after my stomach groaned in protest.


    ¡°Well, this is problematic¡± I muttered to myself slowly dragging myself out of bed. Fortunately my not fully healed and still very swollen knee could still bear my weight and I slowly dragged myself over to the door, grabbing the meal outside, for some reason startling the guard standing outside my door.


    Stuffing my face full of food in a very undignified manner, I sat down and looked in the mirror over my dresser I almost gasped aloud at my appearance, understanding immediately what the guard had been shocked about. I was a mess, particularly for a princess. Several long scratches and cuts marred my arms and the protective light armour I had worn out had clearly been hit several times. I even had a scabbed over scratch on my face from when I took a dive around a corner to hide coming back. My hair was in knots and I probably had never looked less dignified in my entire life. And of course before I could do anything that¡¯s when Lady Xing came in.


    ***


    ¡°I¡¯m still really upset at you¡± I muttered as I hobbled along an hour later after Lady Xing had wrangled me into a dress and had hidden as much of the scratches and scrapes as she could. Unfortunately none of that could hide that I was hobbling around like I had a poorly made peg leg on a pirate ship.


    ¡°You may have mentioned it but shockingly enough your still alive¡± Lady Xing muttered just as quietly nodding at a pair of guards looking at me strangely as I hobbled past. ¡°And in the end despite what your family¡¯s supposed honour, chivalry as they walk over each others throats for a crown, that¡¯s the only thing that really matters.¡±


    I stopped at that and turned around to look at her. ¡°From my understanding of my father¡¯s comments, your entire purpose is to push me into this race for the crown?¡± I asked raising my eyebrows.


    ¡°If you can win it and he deems you a suitable successor, otherwise I am to get you killed or to rescind your position in the running.¡± She said looking at me seriously ¡°and at this moment you are neither powerful enough or have a class that puts you in a good position to take it.¡±


    ¡°Your already trying to push me out?¡± I asked curiously ¡°That seems slightly early to make such a definitive decision considering my father is not going to be rescinding his crown for several years at the earliest.¡±


    ¡°You would need at least 20 years to be able to handle the weakest of your siblings in direct combat at the rate your progressing¡± Lady Xing said darkly


    ¡°I didn''t think I was quite that far behind¡± I muttered ¡°do you seriously consider throwing in the towel now is the best option?¡±


    ¡°Now?¡± Lady Xing said looking shocked ¡°absolutely not, you are still royalty right now! Keep being that for as long as you can last! Just be prepared to give it up.¡±


    ¡°I still think I will surprise you¡± I muttered as Lady Xing dragged me into the main ballroom to meet my horrible fate for that day, to actually do princess things.


    ***


    I gritted my teeth whilst I used the 60 mana that I has generated over the past half hour to heal my right shoulder back into position whist using the rest of it to fix my limp. Following after Shenyen


    the head of the Royal Ballroom as he described to me his plans for my birthday ball whilst trying to hide the pain had been an exercise in torture.


    ¡°And as per the latest trends I absolutely think we should have some of the new cinnamon dish coming out from the west that is gaining significant popularity at the moment¡± he finished ¡°do you have any thoughts?¡±


    I had many actually, however most of them were not fit for polite conversation and had no relevance to the situation. Quickly thinking it over I came up with a snap decision. ¡°Hmm I think what you are describing is excellent!¡± I said looking at him ¡°however I have another suggestion. Rather than going off what is popular right now, I plan on doing something more traditional. Use the purple and gold colours but add some black decor for the modern touch as that seems to be popular at the moment.¡± I was completely making this up to give myself the least amount of work possible but black was always popular so I couldn¡¯t be wrong?


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Base it off my father¡¯s coronation ball. It will show how I am becoming a true adult and taking my responsibilities as princess seriously. Add some modern touches in the food and meals and obviously don¡¯t copy the coronation ball from scratch but that is the concept I¡¯m planning on basing this on.¡±


    ¡°An excellent suggestion princess¡± Shenyen said his quill moving seemingly impossibly fast over his page. ¡°However I will point out that this is very¡­ untraditional for such an event¡± he finished tentatively


    ¡°Thank you for your opinion," I said completely ignoring him. It would be easy for me and would be less likely to cause me any problems so I wasn¡¯t bothered otherwise, I had other priorities now. ¡°I can count on you to make this happen of course?¡± I said looking at him raising my eyebrow.


    ¡°Oh of course my princess¡± Shenyen replied stuttering ¡°it¡¯s just, it¡¯s very traditional for the party to be very modern to show off the latest trends to start your journey to the academy!¡±


    Curious at his mention of the academy, usually reserved in conversation by people in the know I identified him and got nothing back. Curious I thought to myself.


    ¡°Yes that is tradition, however showing strength is much more important at this time¡± I said to him,  there are talks of potential conflicts at the moment and it¡¯s important we show our national pride and strength! I will come back a few days before the party to check on your progress.¡± Of course I didn¡¯t actually know about any potential wars coming up but we are always sniping with our major neighbours so it wasn¡¯t a particularly big step to assume.


    ¡°Of course my lady, and if we have any problems?¡± Shenyen called as I turned to leave


    ¡°I¡¯m a princess, your current job is to solve my problems!¡± I said, channeling my siblings'' energy ¡°If you really need anything, go to Lady Xing.¡±


    And with that sorted out and planned with as little involvement from me as possible I left.


    ***


    As I left the castle a few hours later completely healed and again full of mana I felt watched. As I headed towards the sewers that the mutated rats were known to reside I kept on looking over my shoulder and around and despite seeing nothing out of the ordinary I was certain I was being followed. Even using both fade and silent footsteps didn¡¯t throw off the sense. To comfort myself and to letting my stalker know I was aware of them I drew my pair of daggers. And other than people giving me a much wider berth nothing seemed to change.


    Thinking carefully I decided to take a detour, taking myself back to Shade¡¯s house. to hopefully collect a fully complete mask and gear combination and hopefully get my stalker to back off. After all, he is much higher leveled than me even if he is not combat focused. I thought


    Quickly I rushed over to his house and as I did the feeling only grew, to the point I was looking around constantly for any hint of a change.


    I got to the front door of the store and almost threw it open off the hinges in my fear. As I shut the door however I felt the feeling dissipating and I leant back against the door sighing in relief.


    ¡°What do you want, oh it¡¯s you¡± Shade said stumbling out from the door that lead to his residence, smelling strongly of alcohol and stumbling as he headed towards the counter.


    ¡°Hi Shade, your looking ¡­ well¡± I said watching him attempting to straighten up his clothes to minimal success.


    ¡°Oh get off it¡± Shade said shaking his head ¡°I always look like the back end of a sheep, what do you want?¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t say I have heard that one before¡± I remarked. ¡°And I just came by to see whether you had finished any of the regular mask and armour suits?¡±


    ¡°Of course I have, what do you take me for some second rate amateur¡± Shade grumbled ¡°come back here and I will show you the ones I have done.¡±


    Following him into his living area he remarked ¡°Surprised you came, I was under the impression that Crimson was coming to pick them all up?¡±


    ¡°She probably will be,¡± I admitted ¡°however circumstances encouraged me to come earlier and pick up one for myself to use now, also¡± I added as an afterthought, I thought I would return the original mask in case you needed it.¡±


    ¡°Bah just keep it, there will always be some point where you will want to hide your identity but not get into the full getup¡± Shade said waving me off.


    ¡°Here you are¡± he remarked grabbing a black mask with the classic silver tear coming down from the eye from what appeared to be his work table and passing it to me.


    ¡°So do I need to get changed or what is the best practice, also how much do these cost if I was in need of a replacement?¡± I asked, wanting to make sure I didn¡¯t damage anything, skill based items were notoriously finicky and had funny rules for their use, and I definitely didn¡¯t want either him or particularly lady Xing on my bad side if I broke one.


    ¡°It will only work if you are wearing things that can go under armour, so right now your shoes, leggings and chest plate will need to go.¡± Shade said ¡°and they generally cost around 2000 Gold crowns¡±


    I almost gasped hearing that, whilst I could afford that with my allowance I had saved it was almost the price of a reasonable house in the city! Note to self I thought don¡¯t break this. Also look into buying a house for a base outside of the castle. As far as I was aware my siblings didn¡¯t know about me yet but they would soon and I needed a safer base for myself when they inevitably found out.


    ¡°Well do you have anywhere for me to change?¡± I asked, looking around and not seeing a good place to go for any amount of privacy.


    ¡°You can always¡± he started saying with a lecherous smirk that I immediately cut down with a glare, causing him to backtrack ¡°let me go out the front so you have the entire room here!¡± He finished, backing away carefully and almost rushing to the door as soon as I stopped my glaring.


    ¡°I thought so¡± I muttered watching him leave and making sure he wasn¡¯t coming back in by placing a chair under the door. Effectively locking him out of his own house I smirked to myself. taking off my shoes and stripping off my pants and shirt, and as I did so a white page fluttered down onto the floor. Curious as I definitely didn¡¯t leave with any paper I quickly reached down and picked it up.


    As I grabbed and opened the folded piece of paper I saw a symbol of an artistically rendered scull with red eyes. I was still surprised as I read the letter.


    Your application has been accepted


    Simon Matterson


    84 Florets street


    Stabbing


    Tomorrow


    No further contracts will be taken out on your life

 Chapter 11 - Down the sewer hole

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    I stared at the note in horror reading it over another time before it as if my hand was on fire. I quickly dressed myself with the mask on my face trying to distract myself and avoiding looking at the note. I abstractly admired the black form fitting leather armour that fitted me like a glove, but still providing me with almost full range of motion. I was also impressed with the pair of sheaths provided on the belt ready for my daggers. A dainty looking black ring with a silver teardrop on my right hand provided the only adornment to the outfit. Only after dressing myself whilst examining the ring did I notice how badly my hands were still shaking. I closed my hands into fists to try and stop the shaking however it did not help.


    ¡°Are you okay in there?¡± Shade called ¡°it doesn¡¯t normally take someone this long to get changed into one of my suits, is there an error or something?¡±


    ¡°Nno, everything is fine¡± I called out disgusted at myself for the quiver in my voice. Quickly gathering the gear I had arrived in I walked back out shoving the letter into my armour as I did so.


    Seeing Shade I immediately dumped my gear and told him to give it to Lady Xing when he went back to the castle and started walking out of the shop. I turned back however when he called for me to wait. ¡°I need to let you know how to use the ring!¡± he panted pretending to be burdened under the weight of the armour I dumped on him. I crossed my arms and waited knowing full well that he would have a much higher strength stat than me.


    ¡°The ring is a storage ring¡± he got out, ¡°so channel a drop of mana into it and you can carry back your own armour.¡±


    Grabbing back my chestplate I did so and immediately it vanished, and immediately I knew it was in the ring. Shade raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°How much space does it have?¡± I asked


    ¡°About 5 cubic meters¡± Shade said sounding slightly shocked ¡° however that includes the suit when it desummons. Have you ever used a storage ring before?¡±


    ¡°At what point in my life do you think I would have the chance to use a storage ring¡± I asked grabbing the rest of the gear from his unresisting hands and placing it into the ring.


    ¡°Your.. well usually people have to place the object on the ring before it goes into it. Your man¡¯s control appears to be excellent to even possibly the level of a prodigy.¡± He said in a slightly shell shocked voice ¡°I have never seen anyone do that in my life.¡±


    That is quite possibly the first positive comment I have heard about my capabilities since I have awakened I thought smiling to myself. Nodding at Shade who remained rooted to the spot and still staring down glancing between his hands and my ring, I turned and left.


    ***


    Headed back towards the main sewer entrance I immediately noticed that the sensation of being followed was completely gone. Whoever it was likely was the assassin that slipped me the note, maybe I can get a danger sense skill out of that, that would be really helpful. I thought to myself. Although I didn¡¯t really know what skill to replace it with considering it was probably a general skill. The skills I had used the least at present was bartering and learning. Bartering had the potential to be a huge money saver and learning was the key to me catching up on my siblings. However bartering would be useless if I¡¯m dead I decided, marking it as my next skill to go. I was getting some odd looks from what I was wearing as I walked down the street however there were enough classers that wore even more outlandish sets of armour that I didn¡¯t draw too much attention.


    Note to self next time make sure that I wear regular clothes and activate the mask once I get to my job I thought as I ducked down some back streets to head towards the entrance, right behind the Adventurers Guild


    Nobody stopped me as I walked to a suspiciously large manhole cover that was already partially opened, an awful stench emanating from the entrance it covered. I was immensely grateful that the suit I wore toned down the smell immensely.


    Standing there my brain finally caught up with what I had seen in the letter and again my hands started shaking ¡°someone paid the guild to kill me¡± I muttered very softly to myself ignoring the quiver in my voice ¡°who the hell would actually pay real crowns to send an assassin to kill me!¡± Honestly I didn¡¯t understand why I was reacting like this, I already knew someone tried to kill me and it was almost certainly not on a whim but having it confirmed sparked a visceral terror in me that I wasn¡¯t able to overcome. I now knew with almost certainty that someone was still trying to kill me and it wasn¡¯t a one off. Seconds later I realised I could hear myself panting so rapidly and loudly that I would draw attention and slowly I tried to take deep breaths to calm myself. I knew this wasn¡¯t resolved and my heart and mind were still rapidly churning, but I knew if I didn¡¯t do something now that I likely never would.


    ¡°Okay goals,¡± I said shaking my head sharply as though to cut off the morbid train of thoughts as I shifted the man cover and looked down at the metal ladder with significant trepidation.


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°I obviously want to kill at least 100 rats but I also want to develop as many skills as possible.¡± I said looking over my skills. Of which I knew I was going to use several of them just in ordinary combat and life, however I decided to add some other things I was going to try as I went down the list. Let¡¯s see if I can attempt to do some sort of pseudo permanent meditation I decided, as well as using fade to fade through an object entirely and to be able to use shadow magic to give myself a permanent shadow cloak¡± I decided knowing full well that being able to achieve any of these was likely a very long stretch goal. But Shade had definitely increased my confidence significantly. If I¡¯m really talented at magic in general that could give me an edge I thought excitement bubbling up no matter how much I attempted to stop it.


    Slowly I descended the ladder keeping an eye out to see if I could spot any rats. They didn¡¯t normally come down this section of tunnels as this was where most of the members who took this mission started, and looking around today it seemed to hold true. As I stepped down I immediately started using [Silent step] and making sure to keep to the side where there were walkways for the adventurers convenience, and avoid the river of sewage floating past. I cursed at my last self mentally for taking [Senses] as the smell alone was enough to make my eyes water.


    Gathering myself and trying my hardest to avoid touching anything or walking in any of the puddles I slowly walked back towards the centre of the city trying to keep my eyes peeled for any signs of movement as I did so. Unfortunately I saw nothing of note as I walked along. Even more unfortunately whilst I was having some minor success trying to manipulate the shadows around me into a cloak it was incredibly difficult. I knew it was possible, but I also knew that I was doing something badly wrong. However knowing such a thing did not mean I had any idea on how to fix it. Moving meditation was also a bust and having a look at the walls I decided attempting to fade through them was not a wise decision.


    I was surprised at the lack of animals I saw as I continued walking around, the only sound was the rushing of liquid, I didn¡¯t dare call what I was walking past water, and the only movement was in said liquid and no matter how desperate I was there was no way I was planning on hopping in to kill a measly rat. Particularly considering I had no idea if what I was seeing was actually a rat.


    Hours later I was still wandering down the tunnels and I was honestly debating turning around when I saw my first rat corpse. Curious as to what had killed it, and relieved I was finally making some progress. I rushed over a narrow bridge without taking any time to notice my surroundings. It was almost my final mistake.


    As I picked up the rat to put it in my spatial storage seven rats appeared as if from nowhere behind me. If it wasn¡¯t for my advanced [Senses] picking up the sound of claws on stone I would have been completely vulnerable, even as it was I barely got out of the way of the first creatures lunge. Feeling confident in my armour I withdrew my daggers and kicked out at the nearest animal. All of these creatures were as large as a small dog and as the rat I had kicked at proved we¡¯re lightning fast as he easily skittered out of the way. Identifying the nearest one though gave me a bit more of a concern.


    [Mutated rat (venomous) L9]


    ¡°Damn it to the lower plains¡± I swore as I quickly identified the others, crouching slightly and using my daggers to stab at any that got close. They all showed the same (venomous) label.


    There is no record of these being venomous that I knew of. I thought my mind racing. I was suddenly a lot less comfortable with my armour ifa single bite could possibly kill me. The only comfort I had was I could identify the levels of all the creatures and none were higher than level 10.


    Stabbing out I tried to maneuver around the creatures and retreat however they seemed to have some sort of pack tactics that made it very difficult, any attempt was immediately targeted and hemmed in by at least two other rats. Deciding to change strategy I stood up and lunged at the weakest animal I saw, a level 4 that seemed a fair bit slower than the others and barely dodging out of the way of its bite as well as one of his neighbours I brought my dagger down and managed to pierce it through the eye.


    Congratulations you have killed a Mutated Rat (Venomous) Level 4!


    Absorb has failed to consume the class venomous mutant.


    Reading this I immediately swore. There was no way I could finish my guild assignment now, and most assignments for that matter of lower class beasts, I was not going to take the risk of getting a class like that unless my life depended on it.


    Swearing however was not the smartest move. The rats immediately abandoned any sort of tactics in favour of mobbing me from all sides, biting and clawing at any area of me they could possibly get their hands on. Reacting instinctively I liked out at the animals trying to shake them off and rapidly swung my daggers down at them abandoning any attempt at aiming for force and luck. One I managed to crush kicking it between my boot and the wall. The others I slowly dismantled with my hurricane of rapid strikes. I knew it had come down to a race, would I be able to kill these animals fast enough before they found a way to penetrate my bare skin. The rats swarmed my legs and despite my attempts to retreat they were getting there jaws around my legs. Bloody gashes marred their fur and another three slowly succumbed to their wounds when disaster struck. One rat managed to find a gap between my boots and the start of my leg armour and bit hard. Immediately I knew there was a problem as the leg started to go numb. But stabbing down I managed to pierce its scull causing it to drop dead. Immediately I put some mana into regeneration trying to get rid of the venom immediately but it seemed to just slow the spread. The last rat, which I had barely touched so far immediately turned and ran off, it¡¯s loud shrieks echoing through the tunnel.


    ¡°Yeah you better run¡± I muttered slowly gathering the corpses of the other rats before turning to leave, slowly limping as my leg went numb. Slowly I walked back the way I came, leg hurting and the rats squeaks still echoing in the background.


    Wait, was those squeaks getting closer? I turned, and a veritable swarm of the creatures turned a corner a few hundred metres back and charged in my direction..


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <button></button>


    <button></button>

 Chapter 12 - A rat in a maze

    ¡°Damn everything to the lower planes, and curse the lower planes to hell itself!¡± I swore turning and running as fast as I can back the way I came. My running and pain resistance immediately kicked in and I started pumping more mana into regeneration which slowly started to dissolve the venom. A veritable carpet of the creatures were swarming behind me. And no matter how fast I was pushing myself, channeling [Running] to the max I heard them slowly catching up behind me.


    My legs burning I backtracked, the rats seemingly converging from all directions as I ran. Some even managed to get in front of me despite me not seeing any of them on my way. I mostly barged over them, swinging my daggers if they got within striking distance. But no matter how fast I was running I could tell they were quickly converging on me. Desperate I looked around and thought desperately, as some rats jumped to scratch at my armour. Stopping on top of a bridge in a panic I flexed my aura, remembering the pressure brought to bear on me by my father and Lady Xing and emulating it to the best of my abilities. Immediately the rats stopped running pressed to the the ground. Some of those closest even dropping dead at the pressure. However I could immediately feel the pressure draining me as rats ran over the top of one another to get closer until they either backed up or were unable to move further due to my aura.


    Congratulations you have killed mutated rat Level 6


    ¡­


    Congratulations you have killed mutated rat Level 9


    Mutated rat Classes were not absorbed


    Sighing at relief reading that I slowly backed up, retreating back towards the exit watching the rats scramble around in panic. The rats seemed to be able to withstand the pressure about 3 metres away however any closer and they would succumb, however the stronger ones were able to make it even closer, some attempting to jump at me before collapsing. As I retreated they followed the wall of rats throwing themselves atop one another in their attempts. They were clearly prepared to rip me limb from limb however unable to do so due to my aura, and the numbers were not something I was able to overcome, seeing as there appeared to be no end to their numbers. Attempting to break this impasse using my shadow skills or other abilities was pointless, as they immediately walked through it unharmed. So backing up step by step, the pain mounting was the only solution. It was a race, would my aura fall or would I be able to make it back to the ladder first.


    Gritting my teeth as I walked I threw more mana into regeneration and directed it towards my head to see if it would help with the burden any, and whilst it did relieve a slight amount of pressure it immediately sunk my mana down by almost half. But that was okay, I thought as I turned the last corner, the pressure continuously grinding me down. Just a little further. My attempts were clearly weakening as the rats closed the distance, but it would be enough. Taking the biggest steps I could I retreated the last hundred or so metres in a rush, as I felt the pressure in my head reaching a breaking point. However as I reached the ladder to escape a loud barking noise echoed through the tunnels. Immediately the rats all retreated back surrounding the area around the ladder but not coming any closer, clearly preventing me from going anywhere else. Carefully with one hand on the ladder I lowered my aura, feeling a wave of relief as the rats stayed at their distance. Then as I watched a rat larger than the others stepped forward. And when I identified it I almost gasped in surprise.


    Mutated Rat Beta Level 15


    The rats have a leadership system now? I thought shocked. I had never heard about anything like this before! And I had asked lady Xing if there was anything I needed to know before I came down and she had never mentioned anything like this! I faced the creature gripping both daggers tightly with hands slick with sweat. I also kept my back to the ladder prepared to rush up it and take my chances if necessary. The Rat in front of me made me pause however from leaving immediately. It was almost twice as large as any of the other creatures, and it¡¯s movements conveyed speed, and its jaws seemed significantly more powerful, however most concerningly I saw a spark of intelligence in its eyes. Not human intelligence by any means but a measure of cunning that concerned me greatly. It seemed to stalk me, it¡¯s beady eyes following me closely, as I tracked it. I crouched slightly in preparation to lunge at it and immediately it pounced. Small sickle like claws raked at me as I awkwardly dodged away. Swinging my daggers at it in a poor attempt at a parrey. The Beta easily dodged my attempt even midar it athletically rotated itself between my striking daggers. As it landed it barely paused before charging at me, hissing and growling as it did so. I stabbed down, managing to cut a glancing blow on its side but as a result my arm was in striking distance and it bit down on my wrist. Reflexively I almost dropped the knife as I felt it punch through the softer leather around my hands like a hot knife through skin. I tried to stab it with my other knife in my off hand, however it let go almost immediately. My skin felt very hot where the bite was and immediately I pushed as much mana as possible into regeneration hoping to get whatever contaminant the Rat put in him out. The corresponding burn he felt as his regeneration attempted and seemed to barely overcome the toxin confirmed my choice. More prepared I set myself and we clashed in a whirl of striking blades and flashing claws. Lunging and stabbing out I managed to get some more weak ineffective strikes against its sides, managing to get it to bleed however dealing no significant harm. In return however I had managed to avoid any other bites of my own, managing to protect myself with the tougher leather bracers. The Rat glared, eyes shining with malice clearly in pain from the cuts I had inflicted. Some of the rats around the ring edged closer, and I put my hand back on the ladder. I wanted to kill this animal, and it was clearly willing to fight me one on one but I was prepared to leave with nothing if I needed to.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Barking at the rats that dared encroach on its fight it immediately sprung back at me, but I was prepared. I dodged its leap and managed to drive a dagger fully into its side, finally doing some significant damage to the animal. however the dagger became lodged in its side and as I tried to drag it out with the momentum of its lunge it seemed to catch on something and it was ripped out of my hand.


    The rat roared in anger and pain, it¡¯s eyes glowing red as it charged back at me, attacking quicker and with raw fury, it¡¯s claws before doing minimal damage dug into my armour. I stabbed it with my other dagger straight into its eye and it ignored the damage, throwing itself at me with a reckless abandon. I gasped and pain coursed through me as it managed to bite down through a joint at my knee, and causing me to drop to the ground, the knee suddenly unable to support my weight. My hand shaking wit the crippling pain coursing through me I managed to grab the dagger stuck in its side. Viciously with force I didn¡¯t know I possessed I ripped it out dragging the blade along its stomach disemboweling it. The animal let out a vicious scream before finally collapsing to the ground, dead.


    Gasping in relief I stumbled over and picked up the corpse, dragging out the knife stuck in its eye and putting the corpse in my storage ring. To prevent the remaining rats from bothering me, as I noticed some were coming back to attack me seeing I was injured, I reactivated my aura. Immediately the rats began to disperse, and within seconds only the blood on the ground showed they had ever been there at all. I also used my remaining regeneration to heal myself up from the bite. Slowly I climbed back out of the sewers my leg still throbbing in pain. Resealing the cover I limped back around to the front of the adventurers guild.


    Walking around I got some nasty looks on the busier road, clearly the smell I was emitting was quite unpleasant. Ashamed I quickly ducked in the entrance. Slinking in I hoped to avoid scrutiny as I walked over to the task board, an old wooden cork board running the length of a wall with hundreds of pages scattered haphazardly along them. Some weathered with age and some completely new. There appeared to be no rhyme or reason to there placement with a brand new rat extermination quest next to a worn task for the capture of a live fairie. A woman in nothing but a robe and a man wearing a chain mail shirt and a mace attached to his belt examined the wall for listings. Scanning the room I noticed that all the damage that lady Xing had caused seemed to be completely gone, although some bumps and bruises remained on the patrons. Most of them however seemed to be trying to find solace in their drinks as new faces continued to tease them, seemingly in an attempt to gather more information about what had happened the day prior.


    Gosh that feels like a lifetime ago I thought rubbing my shoulder, a phantom pain flaring up. Examining the tasks I found various creatures that would be much better for my skill set I currently had for a low level creature that I could fight one on one or in small groups, such as a new mission in the centre of the board for the elimination of two giant salamanders under level ten that had made their residence just outside the city. Reading these I cursed lady Xing under my breath. Scanning the rest of the board I came up completely empty, there seemed to be no mention of any other rat other than the standard mutated rat quest. I cursed softly, reading the listings in disappointment.


    I did not kill this animal to get the same thing as a regular rat I fumed, and marched up to the reception desk.


    ¡°Hello Glenda, how¡­ fortuitous it is to see you today I said, feeling slightly guilty as I saw her hand shaking.


    ¡°How may I help you today¡± Glenda squeaked at me looking as if she would rather be anywhere else, her eyes darting around the room and not meeting my eyes as if hoping someone would come and save her from me.


    Dumping the corpse of the rat on her desk I responded ¡°I was doing the kill 100 Rats task and they seemed to be organised at least somewhat around this rat. I want to know if this is normal and if there is a different task for this animal.¡±


    Glenda stared at me. Stared at the rat. Stared back at me. ¡°You would be willing to verify that in front of a truth orb?¡±


    I had never used one of those before but in regards to this I had nothing I needed to hide. ¡°Absolutely¡± I confirmed.


    ¡°Please come with me¡± Glenda said grabbing the rat and sounding much more confident as she lead me up the stairs.


    ¡°Where are we going?¡± I asked curiously looking around at the much nicer rooms, what appeared to be a small library and at the end of the hall.


    ¡°Well to the guildmasters office of course¡± do you think we leave that lying around?¡± Reaching the end of the hall she knocked loudly on the solid oak door.


    ¡°Come in¡± a familiar voice called, inviting no disagreement.

 Chapter 13- Rewards

    ¡°So you¡¯re telling me, you have been in the Guild for one day, having forced yourself in through one of the few people in the city who I wouldn¡¯t fight and then you come here and drop this in my lap!¡± The guildmaster said his voice raising to a shout as he spoke.


    I opened my mouth to protest and he raised his hand to forestall any comments. ¡°I know this is not your fault but now I will have to do something about this before it becomes a major issue, it¡¯s already going to cost significant money to resolve and means we will have to increase the number of people doing the rat task as clearly they are expanding too far.¡± He grumbled rubbing at his temples. ¡°As if my life wasn¡¯t hard enough already, however that does explain the increase in deaths from that mission.¡± he muttered to himself ignoring me entirely.


    Ignoring his muttering and cursing for the moment I used the opportunity to examine the office. For the head of the Guild and considering his size he dwarfed the space, a solid oak desk taking up the majority of the room. Piles of papers haphazardly littered the room and a basket was overflowing with crumpled pages. The only sign of any decoration, if one would call it that was the massive scull of a horned creature, it¡¯s horns stretching to touch both walls, and a massive utilitarian war hammer lying propped up against the wall. I watched curiously as the man rifled through the pages on his desk becoming more and more frustrated if the sounds of his muttering was anything to go by.


    Tentatively I asked ¡°Was there a mission or something like that I was meant to grab for this?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, what¡± the guildmaster asked clearly paying minimal attention. ¡°No, go back to the front with Glenda and leave the rat here, along with any others you got.¡± He said vaguely gesturing in front of him. ¡°Glenda please give her a level 3 intelligence reward and set up a code 3 mission for a week from now, and make it somewhat enticing so I don¡¯t have to go down there myself. We can¡¯t let this become a bigger problem, and it¡¯s absolutely not worth my time.¡±


    I deposited the remaining rats on a convenient tray that Glenda provided and followed her out. Walking down the stairs I asked ¡°how much is a level three intelligence reward?¡±


    ¡°A level three reward is a mid level reward¡± Glenda said neutrally, seeming to choose her words very carefully. ¡°And is used for when a mid level threat is discovered, and the reward is 500 gold crowns and the ability to cancel the related missions with no consequences.


    I remained silent, shocked at how much one poorly done mission had turned out purely because of luck of the draw.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong we absolutely appreciate the information and understand that you risked your life on the understanding that this was a task that would have low risk at your level but that amount is mandated by the crown¡± Glenda said in a rush clearly misinterpreting my shock for anger, hidden as my expression was behind my mask.


    ¡°I will take the crowns and the return of the mission now.¡± I said in a firm tone, hiding how overjoyed I was with the amount. This was enough to potentially get some empty land in the new section of the city! Maybe that secret base was not as long term of an idea as I thought it would be.


    ***


    Leaving the guild with a storage ring with much less space than when I arrived, I had to hold myself back from skipping down the street. Ducking into an alley I withdrew my mask and slipped my boots back on and was just about to duck back into the street when I heard the sound of someone clearing their throat behind me. Immediately I grabbed my daggers and turned around and prepared to throw.


    Only to lower them ashamedly seeing Lady Xing standing behind me, hands on her hips. ¡°If I were an assassin you¡¯d be dead.¡±


    ¡°Yes because I, having been a classer for less than a week should have a reasonable chance of defending myself against someone who has at minimum fifteen more years on me and I suspect more than triple that at a minimum.¡±


    Lady Cing snorted at that ¡°No but you should have heard me or seen me, I wasn¡¯t exactly hiding, are you a rogue or not?¡± Lady Xing asked ¡°how have you been progressing?¡±


    Realising that I hadn¡¯t checked how I had progressed since the sewers I opened my status and barely avoided gasping aloud.


    Congratulations Absorber class has absorbed class Beta Rat, as this class is not suitable for a human you may either convert the class to a human equivalent or have a 100% Absorption chance on your next kill.


    Ignoring all my other notifications I stared dumbfounded. I had almost believed I would never absorb a class again! I almost immediately decided to keep the class but the 100% guarantee was too tempting. I knew very little about the class the Rat had but what I saw I wasn¡¯t a huge fan of. It had some leadership qualities but also a rage ability? Not for me I decided. I was sure there were better options.


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    ¡°What happened, lady Xing asked seeing my expression ¡°you look like you got a significant


    Internallarms immediately started blaring. she was dancing against a very sensitive topic and this was one area I could not let her discover. So I decided to change the subject. ¡°Have any advice on how to set up a legitimate fake identity so I can buy a house?¡±


    Her penetrating gaze let me know she saw straight through my change of topic but she decided to indulge me anyway ¡°depends, how legitimate are we making this identity and how separate we are going to make it from yourself.¡±


    ¡°As legitimate as possible and as separate as possible¡± I responded


    ¡°A good decision¡± she nodded ¡°I thought I would have to nudge you along to set up a safe house for yourself but clearly you beat me to it.¡±


    ¡°Good to know I can occasionally have a good idea,¡± I muttered somewhat defensively


    ¡°Indeed,¡± lady Xing said nodding seriously. ¡°Fortunately for you I have already been doing this for you because it¡¯s surprisingly easy to set up.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± I asked curiously ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have thought it was easy, I was debating whether it was even possible.¡±


    ¡°Almost everything is possible if you try hard enough¡± Lady Xing said dismissively waving her hand. ¡°But with this all we do is pretend that you are a street urchin who came into the system with an ability that you use to make you money.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a bit, I don¡¯t know, risky?¡± I asked ¡°I wouldn¡¯t think that it¡¯s particularly common and won¡¯t I have to prove that I have an ability to quickly get money?¡±


    ¡°This is actually surprisingly common¡± Lady Xing admitted, that¡¯s why the city is constantly expanding to allow new classers an easier transition and so they aren¡¯t forced to leave. The whole city is designed primarily for classers.¡±


    ¡°Can we go down here,¡± I asked nodding to Florets street as we walked past. Lady Xing looked at me curiously but turned down the street as I asked.


    ¡°As to whether or not you need to demonstrate that you have an ability to make money yes and no. You see in your pocket is your identity and that speaks for itself.¡±


    ¡°Are you crazy¡± I whisper shouted at her, trying to convey my anger but also not to pronounce it to the whole street. ¡°I¡¯m trying to hide my identity, not get myself killed. This mask is becoming an assassin, at your insistence by the way, if you remember correctly.¡±


    ¡°And your going to do such a poor job at that you are going to reveal that your masked identity is an assassin?¡± Lady Xing asked eyebrows raised ¡°and to be clear the plan was to get you to make a business and the business owns the property. So to truly work out who owns the house they would have to find the company, then work out who owns it and then work out who is behind the mask, and if you¡¯re that incompetent you may as well slit your throat now.¡±


    She came to a stop in front of me and looked me straight in the eyes. Have you ever considered why there is a Shadow Guild that is operating in the city, fairly easily obviously and without your dad coming down on them with some glorious light show to kill them all?


    No I actually hadn¡¯t and my expression clearly gave that away. Lady Zing snorted at my expression ¡°figures¡± she muttered to herself. ¡°The reason is that they operate with the full knowledge and backing of the majority of the noble families and definitely all the royalty.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t make sense¡± I muttered to myself ¡°why would they allow such an entity which can cause them significant harm to operate?¡±


    ¡°Because they use them you silly girl¡± lady Xing replied ¡°Also every month nobles and royalty can pay an eye watering sum of money to make sure that the Shadow Guild does not kill them¡±


    Then clearly something has gone significantly wrong, surely king Titus pays for our protection every month? I thought. Surely he would have at least provided me with a courtesy warning.


    ¡°Okay fair enough that does sort of makes sense¡± I admitted deciding to push the personal matter aside, ¡°Two questions though, firstly can masked adventurers even own a business? And doesn¡¯t there need to be a person¡¯s name attached to it?¡±


    ¡°If they needed that they would have stopped the whole process at the adventurers guild¡± Lady Xing said acerbically. ¡°Registering at the adventurers guild is good enough to have a legal identity, mask or not, and as a legal citizen you can own whatever you like, now come along.¡±


    Walking back I scanned the houses and area particularly focusing on number 83 and its neighbours, and realised I had a lot more work to do.


    ***


    Back in my bedroom several hours later I poured over a map of the city and scanned the most recently updated list of known classers in the city. Reading over the people listed under M I let out a sigh of relief at seeing no one with the named Matterson. From my research I had discovered that the Matterson family was an incredibly small merchant family and Simon portrayed all the classic symbols of a wastrel who would end up destroying the wealth his great grandparents had generated. He already seemed to be doing an excellent job of that, being known as being quite common in the cities brothels. His family had all but abandoned him except for a monetary stipend and he appeared to be up to his eyeballs in debt. I was incredibly confused as to why someone would want to kill such an unimportant and frankly useless man, but that was not my responsibility.


    I was also confused as to how he owned the house he lived in, it seemed to have been purchased a few years ago outright in coin. Considering that some of his debts were almost a decade old and his current financial situation didn¡¯t seem to lend itself to good decision making processes it boggled my mind that he had anything of value in his name.


    Examining the city map one last time I confirmed my plan, and a few backup options if required. Sighing I rubbed my eyes, laughing at how much my life had changed in less than a week. If someone had told me a week ago that I would be planning an assassination I would have thought they were possessed. I thought to myself, hopping into my bed. But I absolutely like my life now so much better.